How likely Celtic are of signing Birmingham City's Kyogo - Martin O'Neill breaks silence | OneFootball

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has revealed that he expects Kyogo to remain at Birmingham City this January amid links

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has claimed that the Scottish side are 'unlikely' to re-sign Birmingham City forward Kyogo Furuhashi on loan this January amid links to a reunion between the Japanese fan favourite and club.

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has squashed the rumours of Kyogo returning to Celtic this January, claiming any move for the 30-year-old is 'unlikely'.

In his most recent press conference, O'Neill was asked how likely Celtic were to make a return for Kyogo, who departed the club for French outfit Rennes less than a year ago in a swap deal for Portuguese forward Jota, and was quick to downplay rumours of a reunion with the former fan favourite.

Kyogo has yet to directly contribute to a goal since his £10 million summer move to Birmingham City, leading to speculation that a return to Celtic Park could be on the cards, though it now appears increasingly likely that he will remain at St Andrews and fight for his place in Chris Davies' side.

Martin O'Neill has said Celtic are unlikely to make a move for Birmingham City forward Kyogo this January

In his most recent press conference, O'Neill, who was recently re-appointed in charge of the Glasgow side for the second time this season following the dismissal of Wilfried Nancy, was quick to deny rumours of a move for Kyogo this January.

O'Neill said, "I would have said that that would probably be unlikely. Yeah, I think that would be unlikely.

"I think everything is premature. I think there is a viewpoint that he really wants to prove himself at Birmingham, which is no surprise."

Indeed, whilst the Northern Irish boss has downplayed any return for Kyogo, stating that the Japanese forward is likely to fight for his place at Birmingham, a move cannot be completely ruled out.

Though Birmingham boss Davies has also said he expects Kyogo to stay at the club this January, saying, "Kyogo is our player, who has been playing more matches recently than he has done in the last few months.

"The plan is that Kyogo continues in that vein - gets his goals and gets his game moving. So I'll support him to do that."

Whether Birmingham's stance on Kyogo is subject to change as the window progresses remains to be seen, but for now, the Japanese international is going nowhere and is expected to stay in search of his first goal in royal blue.

Kyogo is set to fight for his place at Birmingham City, having struggled to find form under Chris Davies for the Blues

Birmingham brought in a plethora of options in attacking areas during the summer window, alongside Kyogo, including the likes of Marvin Ducksch, Patrick Roberts, Lewis Koumas, Kanya Fujimoto, and Demarai Gray.

Davies completely revamped his side's attack, which helped them on their way to a record-breaking season in League One last campaign, something which may have come back to bite them.

The Blues sit seven points off the top six at this stage, and Kyogo has done little to help Birmingham's efforts for promotion this season.

Davies is clearly keen to keep him at the club, well aware of his talent, but unable to, as of yet, get the best out of him.

O'Neill's admission will be a big boost for Birmingham, despite Kyogo's form, who will really need him to find his feet sooner rather than later if they are to mount a serious challenge for the top six as the season progresses.