‘I ABSOLUTELY HATE LOSING,’ INSISTS FURUHASHI

KYOGO FURUHASHI insists he does NOT want to be compared with Celtic idol Shunsuke Nakamura.

The Japanese striker completed his four-year contract yesteray as Ange Postecoglous completed his second signing in 24 hours following the £3.5million arrival of Israeli winger Liel Abada.

Furuhashi, 26, was the top scorer in the J1-League with 14 goals after 20 games for his club side Vissel Kobe before his switch to Glasgow.

The sprightly forward is aware he is following in the trail of fans’ favourite Nakamura, who was brought to the club by Gordon Strachan in 2006 and won six trophies in a four-year stint before moving to Espanyol. Remarkably, he is STILL playing at the age of 43 for Yokohama FC.

However, new Bhoy Furuhashi has made it clear he is his own man. The prolific hitman, who has claimed three in six international appearances, said: “As a child, my hero was Ronaldinho and swimmers like Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, but that all changed once I started playing with David Villa and Andres Iniesta at Vissel.

“I have been compared with a few players like Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Keisuke Honda. All three were great players and are legends in Japan.

“But I want to carve my own name in the history books. I don’t want to be the new anyone.

“I consider myself fast, explosive and I can play in any forward position.

“But most of all I absolutely hate losing.”

The forward with the electrifying pace, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “Much of my education came from playing with Iniesta and Villa.

“When it was announced they were coming, I thought to myself: ‘Am I really going to be playing with these legends I watched on TV?’

“They are spectacular players and have been an absolute treasure for my football development.”

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