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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Japan's representative goal scorer may continue his challenge on the England stage.
Japan's Soccer Digest Web reported on the 25th (Korea time) 'Furuhashi Kyogo is being discussed about moving to Birmingham City'
Soccer Digest Web said 'Furuhashi is being talked about recently moving to Birmingham. Birmingham boss Chris Davis was with Furuhashi at Celtic. Will Furuhashi be able to head to Birmingham?' he said, shedding light on Furuhashi's possible entry into the English stage.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Furuhashi moved from Vissel Kobe to Celtic in 2021 and has grown to be the top striker on the Scottish stage. Since entering Scotland, he has played consistently. He showed promise by scoring 20 goals in 33 games in his first season, and then scored 35 goals in 52 games in the 2022-2023 season. In the previous season, he was responsible for Celtic's front line with 19 goals in 50 games. He cruised with 12 goals and four assists in 32 games at Celtic this season as well.
Last summer, he was mentioned as a candidate for Manchester City and Tottenham. News had emerged that Manchester City were considering an alternative candidate to fill Julián Álvarez's vacancy. Tottenham predicted that teacher Enze Postecoglou could be interested. There were even claims that he could be Son Heung-min's competitor. However, neither Manchester City nor Tottenham pursued recruiting Furuhashi, and instead, Stade Rennes of French Ligue 1 recruited Furuhashi.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Furuhashi had high expectations for advancing to the top five European leagues. Furuhashi was excluded from the call-up of the Japanese national team at every important moment despite his tremendous performance at Celtic. Both the 2022 Qatar World Cup and the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup failed to make the final roster. Coach Hajime Moriyasu also revealed the reason why he did not select the team at the time, saying, `The level of the Scottish league is low.' With Ren's transfer, it was an opportunity to play in the top five European leagues and play in the national team.
However, Ren's transfer became Furuhashi's worst choice. Furuhashi played only six games in half a year after moving to Ren. There was no scoring, no help. At the end of the season, he only kept the bench, and his last appearance was in April against Le Havre in seven minutes.
In this situation, Birmingham emerged as a candidate to recruit Furuhashi. Birmingham won the English League 1 (third division) in the 2024-2025 season and was promoted to the championship. He has announced his preparation to compete for promotion to the English Premier League (EPL) immediately after the next season's championship. In this process, Furuhashi seems to have been selected as the front line work. If Furuhashi joins Birmingham, he will play with Korean national midfielder Baek Seung-ho. Attention is also focusing on whether Furuhashi, who has been in a slump since advancing to the top five European leagues, can make a turnaround with the transfer to Birmingham.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
