How Kyogo got on in his first game at LA Galaxy after Birmingham City exit | OneFootball

Kyogo Furuhashi made his LA Galaxy debut from the bench on Sunday

Birmingham City will hope to have a little more luck this time round when it comes to their striker signings this summer ahead of their second campaign back in the Championship.

It was well documented that ambitious owner Tom Wagner had hoped for the Blues to replicate what the likes of Ipswich Town and Southampton have done in the past and secure back-to-back promotions to the Premier League, following their record-breaking League One campaign in 2024/25.

Birmingham made a splash in the transfer window this time last year to try and accelerate their progress up the EFL, and spent up to £10 million on Rennes forward Kyogo Furuhashi.

The then-30-year-old had a rough time in Ligue 1, but before that, was one of the most dangerous strikers in the Scottish Premiership with Celtic, netting 52 times in 101 SPL outings and 85 in 165 games in all competitions for the Hoops.

But one year on, Kyogo has been shipped out to the MLS, where he made his debut for LA Galaxy on Sunday evening.

Kyogo Furuhashi's disappointing season at Birmingham City

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Kyogo's move to LA Galaxy comes one year on from becoming one of the most exciting transfers of the summer window in the EFL last season, not only due to his past at Celtic, but also given the eight-figure fee Birmingham had paid for him.

He followed in the footsteps of Jay Stansfield in terms of being that year's marquee summer signing at St Andrew's, but unlike the 23-year-old, Kyogo failed to thrive at his new club.

The Japanese frontman started brightly, performing well in their opening-day draw with recently relegated Ipswich Town before scoring his first goal for the club in the EFL Cup first-round win against the previous year's play-off finalists Sheffield United.

In the Championship, Kyogo got in good goalscoring positions, but didn't find the net every time, and many argued that all he needed was one goal to truly kick on. In the end, that wastefulness just became the norm, and it wasn't long before he found himself out of the side.

Following a nine-minute cameo against Stoke City on January 24th, Kyogo made just two more appearances that season and missed the final seven games with a shoulder injury. He played pre-season games for Chris Davies' side this summer, but was sold a couple of weeks ago to LA Galaxy, bringing an end to a disappointing spell at St Andrew's.

How Kyogo got on in his LA Galaxy debut

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The MLS campaign got back underway in late July following the break for the World Cup, and after missing the first two games following his arrival, Kyogo was named in an LA Galaxy matchday squad for the first time on Sunday against Dallas.

The 31-year-old was subbed on with 23 minutes to go for Greg Vanney's side, taking up the left wing role alongside former Borussia Dortmund stalwart Marco Reus.

He was unable to change the game, with it ending 0-0. Per Fotmob, he registered three shots, one of which was on target, the other two blocked, while he completed four out of his six passes but none of his attempted dribbles or crosses.

The result leaves LA Galaxy 12th in the Western Conference, having not won in the four games following the league's resumption. Kyogo has a couple of weeks to get up to speed without a game now, with their next game not until a week on Saturday when they travel to Houston Dynamo.

Birmingham City will hope for better from their strikers this season

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With Kyogo already leaving and Marvin Ducksch likely to follow him this summer, it seems that Birmingham are back to square one when it comes to strikers ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

August Priske has been handed the number nine once worn by Kyogo ahead of the new campaign, and there'll be some hope that he can kick on in his first full campaign at St Andrew's, especially after scoring in their recent friendly against Barcelona.

Luis Vazquez is currently in reserve, the new arrival from Anderlecht. He only scored five times last year for both the Belgian side and then on loan at Getafe in the second half of the campaign, so doesn't have as much expectation as Kyogo did, which could be a good thing.

The weight of expectation is high at Birmingham throughout the whole of this year. Promotion will be the aim once more, but that hope will be a lot more intense, given the trajectory that the club wants to be on ahead of their new Powerhouse Stadium set to open in 2030.

If the fresh striker core can fire at a better rate than last season's, Chris Davies' side could well break into that top eight, or perhaps finish even higher.