Celtic “closely” monitoring deal to sign new striker

It is fair to say that Celtic have hit the jackpot on several occasions when dipping into the South Korean and Japanese markets to sign new talent in recent years.

The likes of Daizen Maeda, Hyun-jun Yang, and Reo Hatate in the current squad came over from those countries, along with former Hoops stars Tomoki Iwata and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Premiership giants are still trying to replace Kyogo, despite the fact that they sold him 18 months ago to Rennes for £10m.

The Japan international scored 85 goals in 165 matches in all competitions during his time at Parkhead, after joining from Vissel Kobe as one of Ange Postecoglou’s first signings in the summer of 2021.

Since his departure, the club have failed to sign a single striker who has hit double figures for goals in the Premiership in the past two campaigns.

Celtic eyeing deal to sign Japanese centre-forward

Kyogo came over from the J1 League and hit the ground running at Parkhead as a lethal goalscorer in Scottish football, racking up as many as 34 goals in the 2022/23 campaign alone.

Now, the club are reportedly looking at a potential new signing who could come in to follow in Kyogo’s footsteps if he makes the move to Scotland.

According to 67HailHail reporter Martin Crawford, Celtic are “closely” following Kawasaki Frontale striker Soma Kanda ahead of a possible swoop for his services in the summer transfer window.

The journalist claims that a move away from Japan could be on the cards for the 20-year-old prospect, despite the fact that he has not been a regular starter at club level recently.

67HailHail’s accompanying report states that the Hoops are investigating a deal to sign the young striker, and that they may face competition from teams in the English Championship.

It adds that Kanda is currently studying English in preparation for a potential move to the United Kingdom, which could help him to settle in quickly at Parkhead if he does make the move to Glasgow ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Celtic could sign their next Kyogo Furuhashi

The Scottish giants could unearth their next version of Kyogo by beating off competition from the Championship to strike a deal for the Japanese marksman in the coming weeks.

A return of two goals in 22 first-team matches for Kawasaki Frontale does not immediately suggest that he would be a lethal operator for Celtic next season, but there is more to him than meets the eye.

Kanda has failed to score in eight appearances in the J1 League in the 2026 campaign, starting one of those matches, but his underlying numbers suggest that goals will come for him.

All of his underlying numbers in front of goal put him among the best strikers in the J1 League, and only brilliant goalkeeping appears to have stopped him from producing goals at first-team level this year.

His per 90 statistics suggest that he has the potential to explode as a goalscorer if given the chance to play regular football in a team that creates plenty of chances, just as Kyogo did during his time at Glasgow in an attack-minded Postecoglou side.

Martin O’Neill could give the 20-year-old striker a platform to go and find his feet at senior level by putting him in a position to succeed in a team that creates plenty of chances for the striker to score goals.

Kanda’s record at youth level in Japan also backs up the theory that he will score goals on a regular basis if put in the right environment at Parkhead.

The Celtic target scored a staggering 22 goals in 33 games for Shizuoka Gakuen High School before he made the move to senior level to play in the J1 League, which shows that he can be a consistent and lethal scorer, as his per 90 numbers suggest.

It would be a risky move, because Kanda is yet to prove himself consistently in a first-team setting, but the young forward appears to have the quality and the potential to be O’Neill’s own version of Kyogo at Parkhead if he can take the next step in his career.