Kyogo Furuhashi forced to admit Celtic transfer mistake

Cameron Smith
Cameron Smith
  • 15 Feb 2026 12:50 GMT
  • 6 min read
Kyogo Furuhashi, Celtic
© IMAGO

Birmingham City striker Kyogo Furuhashi has fallen down the pecking order in recent weeks after rejecting the chance to rejoin Celtic during the January transfer window.

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The 31-year-old, who left Celtic Park in 2025, was heavily linked with a return to the club last month after a difficult start to life at Birmingham following his arrival from Stade Rennais.

Current ETV
Player image Kyogo Furuhashi
Kyogo Furuhashi

F (C)

Birmingham logo

Birmingham

Kyogo Furuhashi
Kyogo Furuhashi

F (C)

Birmingham

Birmingham

€4.7M

ETV Range

€3.7M - €5.6M

It has been widely reported that Martin O’Neill’s side submitted a loan enquiry for the Japan international, however the striker rebuffed the opportunity to rejoin the Scottish giants in favour of fighting for his place at St Andrews.

Celtic subsequently finalised loan deals for Junior Adamu (Freiburg) and Tomas Cvancara (Borussia Monchengladbach), and they have both already found the back of the net since joining the Hoops.

Kyogo, on the other hand, has failed to make an impact at Birmingham and he has found game time even harder to come by following the January arrival of Djurgarden striker August Priske for €7 million.

The Japan star has been an unused substitute in each of Birmingham’s last three Championship fixtures and he is firmly behind Marvin Ducksch, Jay Stansfield and Priske in the centre forward pecking order as things stand.

Kyogo falls down Birmingham pecking order

Speaking ahead of Birmingham’s FA Cup clash against Leeds United on Sunday, manager Chris Davies told reporters: “Marvin [Ducksch] has been doing well and I think he’s found his best position in our system. Marvin has come up with some big later moments in games.

“He’s in that position, but Jay [Stansfield] has proven he can do it as well. We’ve got August, and Kyogo who is obviously a striker, so Jay is capable of doing it. [Kanya] Fujimoto is also part of the squad.”

Kyogo is currently out of favour at Birmingham and unless things change quickly, he will undoubtedly be forced to admit that snubbing Celtic in January was a major error.

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