FORMER Celtic hero Alan Stubbs rates Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi in the £20million class.
The 28-year-old Japanese ace cost £4.6million in July 2021 as Ange Postecoglou made him a priority signing in his new-look Hoops side.
Kyogo walloped in 20 goals in his debut season, despite being sidelined for FOUR months with two separate injuries.
SIGNS ARE GOOD…Kyogo Furuhashi illuminates Hampden during his two-goal performance in the 2-1 League Cup win over Hibs in December 2021.
The pacy raider has already collected 26 strikes in this campaign, including a double in the Viaplay League Cup Final triumph over Michael Beale’s Ibrox outfit at Hampden last month.
Ex-Hoops central defender Stubbs, who cost a-then record £4million when he was signed by Tommy Burns from Bolton in the summer of 1996, reckons the livewire attacker’s value has soared since his arrival in Scotland from J-League club Vissel Kobe.
The former Hibs, Rotherham and St Mirren boss said: “The big thing for Celtic is the financial position they find themselves in. I think the playing field they are on now is different and improved to five years ago.
“Then they might have had to sell a player, but now they don’t have to because the balance sheet is very healthy.
“And if they are tested over Kyogo then they are going to make sure that he will go for top dollar and, let’s be honest, he won’t go for anything less than £20million.
“I think Kyogo has been exciting since the day he arrived.”
SIGNS ARE GOOD…Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates with Greg Taylor after hitting his first goal in the 2-1 League Cup Final success over Ibrox opposition in February 2023.
Stubbs, speaking to Grosvenor Sport, added: “I was interested to hear Ange’s comments that the team are not giving him the best service.
“He’s always making intelligent runs and he must be so difficult for defenders to deal with because his timing is so good.
“I think Ange is alluding to the fact that players are not reading his runs all the time and if they do he’s only going to score more goals.
“I can understand why fans are making comparisons with Henrik Larsson and if you’re getting mentioned in the same breath as him then you know he’s doing something very special.”
