Kyogo Furuhashi’s move from Celtic to Rennes in the January transfer window has not gone as planned.
His departure was met with disappointment from the Celtic faithful, particularly after his final appearance at Celtic Park saw him help the Hoops secure victory over Young Boys in the Champions League.
However, Brendan Rodgers’ side has shown no signs of struggling without him. Celtic have been in ruthless form, netting 15 goals in five matches since the Japanese forward’s exit.
Meanwhile, Kyogo’s early days at Rennes have been anything but smooth. The £10 million signing has featured just twice for his new club and has already encountered an injury setback—an all-too-familiar scenario for Celtic fans.
A Difficult Start in France
Kyogo’s adaptation to life in Ligue 1 took another blow as Rennes suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Lille. The Japan international, making just his second substitute appearance, was forced off moments after coming on, appearing to have aggravated his troublesome shoulder. Rennes boss Habib Beye addressed the situation following the match.
Habib Beye told The Herald, “Red cards, injuries, they don’t help but I don’t want to use them as an excuse.
“Kyogo Furuhashi’s shoulder injury forces us to change system and, at that moment, we have a highlight, we had a boost of energy.
“I think our choices in the final third were not always the right ones, we lacked precision and offensive weight to put them under pressure.
“The problem is that, at one point, we played with nine, with the temporary exit of Kyogo Furuhashi.
“When you play with 10 against a team like Lille it’s difficult, then with nine… But I liked the state of mind of my players.
“We had the will to want to win the match with our intentions, and with what we put in place. We were dominated but the will was there.”
Struggles Since Leaving Celtic
Kyogo’s Rennes career began with a 17-minute cameo in a 1-0 victory over Strasbourg, but he was left unused on the bench in the subsequent 2-0 win at Saint-Étienne. His third match saw him suffer the recurrence of his shoulder injury, halting his progress yet again.
So far, he has accumulated just 83 minutes on the pitch for Rennes and registered a single shot on goal. While it’s surely only a matter of time before he finds the net in France, there’s no escaping the sense that, just three weeks after leaving Celtic, the 30-year-old has taken a step backward in his career.
