Celtic boss makes blunt Kyogo to Manchester City claim

Kyogo Furuhashi has recently been linked with a move to Manchester City. Julian Alvarez recently departed Pep Guardiola's side to join Atletico Madrid. That left a void in their squad which needs to be filled and it has been rumoured that the Celtic forward is on the Premier League champions' transfer wishlist.

Kyogo has been one of Celtic's best players over the past three seasons. He has scored 73 goals in total during his time in Glasgow so far. The 29-year-old also was fantastic this pre-season, and even scored against Manchester City.

So, it is not hard to understand why Kyogo might have caught the eye of Manchester City as they search for a possible replacement for Alvarez. But Brendan Rodgers does not seem to be reading too much into the speculation.

As reported by BBC, Rodgers said regarding the speculation involving Manchester City and Kyogo:

"Naturally it comes and we just deal with it.

"But there’s been nothing from Man City. It’s obviously rumour and gossip.

"I haven’t spoken to him directly on that. If I was speaking to every player around gossip and speculation, I would be 24 hours a day.

"It’s of no interest to me. My focus is very much here with Celtic and preparing the team for the game at the weekend.

"Most importantly for me is he is now back feeling comfortable on the grass. He has been brilliant in training the last couple of days and he will be available for the weekend."

Celtic boss makes blunt Kyogo to Manchester City claim

So, it looks like Manchester City have not made contact with Celtic regarding Kyogo. That does not necessarily mean that there is no interest on the English clubs' part. It is possible that the Premier League club are weighing up their options before making any moves.

For the time being, Kyogo is a Celtic player. Hopefully, it will remain that way when the summer transfer window officially slams shut in about a week.

Kyogo was not at his best last season under the management of Rodgers and scored 19 goals in total across all competitions. That is a decent figure but not when you consider that the Japanese forward managed to find the back of the net 34 times in the 22/23 campaign.

Kyogo's performances in pre-season were very positive though, as it looks like Rodgers may have finally found a way to get the best out of him. Hopefully, it is a sign of things to come this season.