It is set to be a busy summer for Celtic.

A week on Saturday, the Hoops could secure a sixth domestic treble in nine seasons, but it is their European exploits that will have pleased Brendan Rodgers the most, reaching the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in 12 years, narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich.

The Scottish Premiership champions will enter next season’s Champions League in the play-off round, set for a very tough two-legged tie, given that Bodø/Glimt, Crvena zvezda, København, Dinamo Zagreb or Ferencváros are currently forecast to be their potential opponents.

Thus, with two huge games to come on 19/20 and 26/27 August, Rodgers will want Celtic’s summer transfer business to be completed quickly and efficiently, so, how could the Hoops go about replacing Kyōgo Furuhashi in a bid to do just that?

The legacy Kyogo left at Celtic

When Kyogo joined Celtic from Vissel Kōbe for a reported fee of £4.5m in the summer of 2021, becoming one of the first signings of the Ange Postecoglou-era, few could have forecast he would become a club icon.

The Japanese forward scored 85 goals in 165 appearances for the Celts, winning eight major honours, meaning he ranks right up there when it comes to modern-day great strikers that the club have enjoyed, as the table below highlights.

According to Graeme Macpherson of the Scotsman, Kyōgo is Celtic’s best striker since Henrik Larsson, an assertion the table above supports, while Charlotte Cohen of BBC Sport adds that the Japanese international will always be a ‘fans’ favourite’ who thrived in the big occasion.

However, given that the 30-year-old joined Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais for £10m in January, Celtic are in the market for a replacement, so have they identified a striker who has the potential to become even better?

Celtic's hunt for a new striker

As has been widely reported since January, including claims from Denmark earlier this month, Celtic are pushing to sign Brøndby striker Mathias Kvistgaarden.

However, the Premiership champions are not the only club interested, with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt having ‘intensified its pursuit’ of the 23-year-old, who is valued at €13m (around £11m).

Football Insider even reported back in February that Celtic are working hard to finalise this deal, claiming that the Danish U21 international is Rodgers’ ‘number-one option’ to replace the departed Kyōgo.

So, why is Kvistgaarden in such high-demand? Well, let’s assess his statistics to help answer this question.

Well, Kvistgaarden is currently the second-highest goalscorer in this season’s Danish Superligaen with 16, bagging 22 across all competitions, while he ranks top for goals-per-90 minutes as well as first when it comes to shots on target-per-90.

Scout António Mango describes him as “absolutely sensational”, Chris Beaumont of Total Football Analysis labels him a ‘quick and agile striker’, while Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout asserted that he is ‘only getting better’.

So, could he actually be better than Kyōgo? Let’s compare the duo to try and find out.

As the table outlines, Kyōgo’s statistics are generally more impressive than Kvistgaarden’s, but this should not be too surprising, given that the Japanese forward arrived in Glasgow at 26-years-old, while the Dane celebrated his 23rd birthday just last month, having only, somewhat recently, established himself in Brøndby’s first-team.

What is clear is that Kvistgaarden is a top-quality player, not just now but set to be in the future too, scoring goals at a high level; according to Global Football Rankings, the Superligaen is the 13th strongest league in the world, with the Scottish Premiership down in 43rd.

Thus, if Celtic are able to get their hands on Kvistgaarden, they should absolutely do so, even if it means breaking their transfer record, which currently stands at £11m.

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By
Sean Markus Clifford

May 11, 2025