Exclusive: Birmingham City pushing to seal deal for international striker | OneFootball

Birmingham City are closing in on the blockbuster signing of Rennes attacker Kyogo Furuhashi, Football League World has learned

Birmingham City are pushing to seal a sensational deal to sign Kyogo Furuhashi as part of a Japanese-led recruitment policy, of which he is the clear front-runner to move to St Andrews @ Knighthead Park, Football League World can exclusively reveal.

The ambitious newly-promoted Championship outfit are eyeing yet another blockbuster summer transfer window as they bid for successive promotions to the Premier League under popular head coach Chris Davies, who led the side to an EFL and world-record 111-point title-winning campaign in the 2023/24 League One season.

With continued strong backing from Knighthead, Blues have the financial muscle to pull off a number of exciting, high-profile additions to spearhead next season's promotion bid.

They are poised to complete an eye-catching return for Blues academy graduate and former Leicester City winger Demarai Gray, who is closing in on a loan move from Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ettifaq, while FLW exclusively revealed earlier this week that Davies' side are set to land the services of Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

Birmingham City closing in on Kyogo Furuhashi deal as part of wider recruitment policy

Now, FLW can also reveal a crucial update in Birmingham's ambitious pursuit of Rennes striker Furuhashi, which was first called by Japanese outlet Sponichi Annex earlier this month.

It's understood that the ex-Celtic star is the clear frontrunner among the Japanese players on Blues' radar as they plan their assault on the Championship, with a deal moving closer to completion.

Davies’ recruitment team identified a number of players from the Far East as they plotted their push towards the top-flight.

And the former Celtic striker, who only joined Rennes during the January transfer window in a £10 million deal, is now the clear favourite to link up with the newly-promoted club.

Furuhashi scored 63 goals in 116 appearances for the Bhoys in a three-and-a-half-year stay in Glasgow before trying his luck in north-west France.

However, it has not worked out for him and he was on the fringes towards the end of the season as his club pushed towards a mid-table berth.

Furuhashi played extensively under Ange Postecoglou while the duo were together at Parkhead - and Davies is likely to have asked for a reference from his former managerial colleague at Spurs about signing the striker.

But although it is as yet unclear if Blues are pursuing a loan or a permanent move for the striker, FLW can confirm that the deal is moving forward.

The 30-year-old was one of a number of Japanese players that were actively being targeted by Davies and his backroom team this summer.

Also on the list was Kanya Fujimoto, who has recently left Gil Vicente in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

Fujimoto, 25, is a free agent, which appealed to the recruitment team at St Andrew’s, but a nagging injury problem continues to persist and that has caused him to fall down the pecking order as far as the club is concerned.

The other option was Shuto Machino from newly-relegated Bundesliga outfit Holstein Kiel.

Machino spent a profitable second season with the side after joining from Japanese outfit Shonan Bellmare two summers ago by scoring eleven goals in the German top-flight.

But the 25-year-old will command a fee and that leaves Furuhashi, who has experience of playing under pressure to win at Celtic, as the favourite to link up with Davies.

Birmingham profited massively from the recruitment of Tomoki Iwata last term, also from Celtic.

The midfielder was nominated for the League One player of the year award as he dominated the middle-of-the-park as Davies’s men racked up a record points haul, smashing their way to the title.

Whether that has played a part in their chase for Iwata’s compatriots this summer is unclear.

Kyogo Furuhashi deal would mark yet another Birmingham City statement of intent

We all know by now that Birmingham are not merely looking to make up the numbers in the Championship next season.

Instead, the Midlands outfit hold every intention of being right up there in the promotion reckoning and have every right to fancy their chances, too, which would only be increased with the signing of Furuhashi.

Their advanced interest in Furuhashi is a statement of intent in itself, and the 23-cap Japan international has the potential to be a real star in the second-tier.

Having been so prolific for Celtic over a number of years, there is little doubt over what sort of impact Furuhashi could have with Blues next season and these sorts of deals are going to give them a serious chance at replicating Ipswich Town's feat of securing successive promotions from the third-tier to the top-flight.