What's happening with Kyogo at Birmingham City amid Celtic and Swansea City links? | OneFootball

The Japanese forward's future with Blues has become a hot topic of debate

Birmingham City were, arguably, the most active Championship club in the recently-shut winter transfer window, with plenty of activity taking place at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Seven new players were acquired by Chris Davies and the Blues recruitment team - if you include the transition of Patrick Roberts' initial loan from Sunderland into a permanent move - whilst a flurry of players were allowed to depart in search of regular first-team minutes, whilst their exits also helped facilitate the aforementioned arrivals within the club's revised 25-man squad which was submitted to the EFL.

All things considered, the window was deemed a success by Bluenoses, as Davies was able to address a handful of 'problem' areas within his squad as a result of the deals which brought Jonathan Panzo, Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente, Ibrahim Osman and August Priske to B9.

The window also coincided with a timely return to form for the West Midlands outfit, which began through a statement 3-2 victory against Coventry City on January 4th.

With transfer business now concluded for the season, Birmingham have since made it eight matches unbeaten across all competitions, although they missed out on the opportunity of climbing into the Championship play-off places in midweek through a goalless draw against West Bromwich Albion.

As a result of Davies' squad alterations, it has been debated as to what the future holds for £10m summer buy, Kyogo Furuhashi, who has only scored three times in all competitions since joining from Stade Rennais.

His frustrating spell in the Second City looked as if it could already have been over in the recent window amid links of a return to Celtic or a loan switch to divisional rivals, Swansea City - neither of which would come to fruition.

The Japanese international was an unused substitute against the Baggies, meaning he appears to have become 'fourth-choice' in Davies' striking plans.

As such, Football League World have investigated what Furuhashi's current predicament with Blues is amid those transfer links, and what the future may hold.

Kyogo Furuhashi was the subject of Celtic FC, Swansea City winter transfer interest

After struggling to make the envisaged impact at St. Andrew's during his first half-season with Blues, the 23-time international became the subject of shock transfer talk involving his former side, where he scored 85 times in just 165 appearances at Parkhead.

It was reported, though, that the 31-year-old's £40,000 per week earnings at Birmingham were a sticking point for the Scottish Premiership champions, before interim Hoops boss, Martin O'Neill, quashed such discourse before Kyogo netted his first goal in five months in the FA Cup against Cambridge United on January 10th.

After marking his 31st birthday with a first league goal against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, it was reported that Swansea were plotting an ambitious loan swoop for Furuhashi in their first transfer window under Vitor Matos.

However, it was later reported that such a move in the short-term, at least, was unlikely from the Swans' perspective, which is exactly what panned out.

Kyogo Furuhashi's gametime has been reduced at Birmingham City following August Priske transfer

After previously competing with Jay Stansfield, Marvin Ducksch and Lyndon Dykes for a starting berth under Davies, Blues' transfer plans have significantly impacted Kyogo's gametime in recent weeks.

The aforementioned Priske saw his five-and-a-half year deal with the club finalised ahead of the 2-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday - in which Kyogo scored - for a reported £6m.

Since then, the Danish youth international has made all of his first four appearances for the club as a substitute, and was denied the chance of scoring his first goal against the Baggies through an offside call.

As such, Kyogo has also been named on the bench, but has failed to play a single minute during the outings against Stoke City, Oxford United, Leicester City and West Brom, which could be seen as a potential hint.

Could Kyogo Furuhashi leave Birmingham City in the summer?

At the time of his arrival, Kyogo signed a three-year contract, with the hope that his goals would help spearhead an instant promotion bid for Blues.

However, that hasn't happened yet. Whilst it would be a welcome surprise for Bluenoses if it did, speculation over his future is likely to be rife heading towards the summer.

It seems highly unlikely that the second tier side would come close to breaking even in terms of a transfer fee was he to depart, whilst the aforementioned wage could continue to be a sticking point.

As such, it certainly remains to be seen what the future holds for the striker, and how difficult it could be for Birmingham to offload his services if he wasn't to be a part of Davies' long-term thinking.