Celtic have made a lot of confusing decisions over the years. The one to part ways with Kyogo Furuhashi, their starting striker, in the middle of the season and not bring in a replacement, has to be right up there. The fact that the club knew they have a Champions League knockout phase tie coming up, against Bayern Munich, will only raise more eyebrows at the thought process behind the move.
Have Celtic given up on the idea of making it past Bayern Munich in the Champions League? That might sound unfair but it is not completely improbable either.
Now, it looks like there is a bit of an update on the Kyogo situation. And it looks like the player wanted to leave in the winter, a wish that the club decided to respect.
As reported by Football Insider, Keith Wyness said about the situation:
"From all I’m hearing from my contacts, Kyogo really did want to be away.
It wasn’t the club getting rid of him, he expressed his desire to move on.
“It’s a surprise, but nevertheless, he wanted to go to France – so fair enough.
“You don’t really want a player who doesn’t want to be at the club.
“The money was there for Celtic to replace him, and I think they tried.
“January is a tough window, and they were never going to overpay for players."
Real reason why Celtic allowed Kyogo to leave this winter
Yes, the winter is a tough time to sign players. But the strategy seems so drastically different even when you compare Celtic with themselves from a few years back.
Giorgos Giakoumakis left in the winter of 2023 and Oh Hyeon-gyu was signed. Alistair Johnston was brought in before Josip Juranovic left for Union Berlin. Important players departed but the club made sure that replacements were brought in.
Yes, it did not work out in the case of Oh but at least the club tried. Johnston, on the other hand, has gone on to become a Celtic stalwart since then and has been a regular starter at right-back.
So, what has changed between now and then? That is the question that the fans should be asking. No matter which way you look at it, Celtic failed to meet minimum expectations this winter and have left the team in a bad spot.