New Kyogo, Celtic reunion claims made amid Birmingham City struggle | OneFootball

Kyogo has been the subject of reunion talk at Parkhead amid a dismal start to his Blues career

Current Motherwell midfielder Andy Halliday believes Kyogo Furuhashi would be an "upgrade" on Celtic's current attacking options under the newly-appointed, yet under-fire head coach, Wilfried Nancy.

That is despite the fact the Japanese international forward's luckless 2025 has continued well into the opening months of his current spell with Championship side, Birmingham City.

After achieving a first-time promotion from League One in record-breaking fashion under Chris Davies last season, Blues continued to invest heavily into somewhat reshaping their squad at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, with the former Hoops assistant receiving further significant backing from American ownership group, Knighthead Capital Management, who are fronted by Tom Wagner.

It has been an inconsistent first four months of the campaign for the West Midlands side, who were backed by many to emulate the previous success enjoyed by Ipswich Town, who became the first club in 12 years to achieve back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League under the guidance of previous Celtic managerial target, Kieran McKenna, between 2023 and 2024.

Such claims were issued after Wagner put a firm target on the Second City club's back in pre-season when discussing the short and long-term plans he has in place, which includes a new 62,000-seater stadium dubbed the 'Powerhouse', which will become the centrepiece of a multi-billion pound Sports Quarter regeneration project.

After looking as though they had ironed out such inconsistencies during November and the first game of December against Watford, which included four successive victories at St. Andrew's in which 14 goals were scored, Blues have since reverted to their somewhat frustrating old ways from earlier in the campaign.

Indeed, they have accumulated just one point from the past 12 available - a run which has included dismal away showings and defeats at Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield United.

Kyogo has also become the subject of intense criticism from Blues supporters in recent weeks, with the £10m summer recruit from Stade Rennais still unable to break his duck in the league for the club.

It has become a hot topic of discussion as to what the immediate and/or long-term future will look like for the former Parkhead hotshot, who has looked a shadow of his former self during the past 12 months.

Yet, whilst his former employers have also struggled to find any patterns of consistency under Brendan Rodgers, Martin O'Neill and now Nancy, Kyogo has also become the subject of shock reunion talk, which has sparked plenty of discourse from the likes of Halliday.

Kyogo Furuhashi seen as potential Celtic FC "upgrade" amid Birmingham City struggles

It has been well-documented that Kyogo enjoyed an outstanding run of goalscoring form during his previous spell north of the border after signing for Celtic in the summer of 2021 from Vissel Kobe.

The man who has featured 23 times for Japan and scored five goals on the international stage, had racked up a total of 85 goals and 19 assists in just 165 appearances for the Glasgow giants, helping the Bhoys win four successive Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and a further three Scottish League Cups before departing for Roahzon Park in January in a deal also believed to be worth as much as £10m.

After making just six appearances for the Ligue 1 side, Furuhashi hoped to reignite his goalscoring touch when moving to St. Andrew's in the summer for an eight-figure sum, with Blues supporters and those of rival clubs in the Championship expecting the 30-year-old to immediately hit it off in the second tier.

He would see a stunning strike against Ipswich Town on his debut ruled out for a foul on Tractor Boys defender, Jacob Greaves, before opening his account for Blues with a simple finish against Sheffield United in the EFL Cup first round success in B9.

Yet, whilst many believed this would spark a flurry of goals, it has proven to not be the case for Kyogo, who has since seen his gametime take a major hit, with his last start coming in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday on September 30th.

It has since been claimed by Football Insider that Celtic have earmarked the striker as a potential January target, whilst Halliday believes the out-of-form forward would be an improvement on the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Shin Yamada, despite not being the type of striker which Nancy may target.

"It seems as if he wants his striker to be more of a link-up player. Listen, he is certainly an upgrade on what they have got," said Halliday.

"If there is an opportunity to bring him back I don’t think Celtic would turn it down. I don’t think he is the ideal profile of a number nine."

Birmingham City transfer plans could pave the way for swift Kyogo departure

It is already looking as though Kyogo's switch to Blues will be filed under the mishap category, with Davies recently turning the screw in his assessment of the striker's lack of goals, which has also seen him miss 10 big chances.

Football Insider also reported that Birmingham are looking to recruit a new striker, along with a 'powerhouse' midfielder and a left-back in the coming weeks, which could pave the way for a swift exit for Kyogo in some form.

Blues also have the services of Jay Stansfield, Marvin Ducksch and Lyndon Dykes to call upon in the centre-forward department, although the latter could also depart in order to improve his chances of featuring for Scotland in the World Cup.