£10m striker has his heart set on joining Celtic

Celtic supporters who were hoping to be left excited by the club’s pre-season matches will be disappointed with the way the first three outings have gone.

The Hoops lost 4-1 to Portuguese giants Sporting either side of 1-1 draws with Shelbourne and Middlesbrough, scoring three goals and conceding six in those games.

Fans may want to see more quality added to the squad before the Scottish Premiership season kicks off, as the team looks short on attacking talent on the basis of their friendlies so far.

In fact, their only signing of the summer so far, Camilo Duran, has scored two of their three goals in pre-season, illustrating the kind of impact a new addition can have.

Celtic need to sign another centre-forward after Duran

The 24-year-old number nine, who was signed from Qarabag for £6m, has already shown signs of promise with goals against Sporting and Middlesbrough in his first two friendly outings.

Celtic, however, need to add another centre-forward to their ranks because they have lost Kelechi Iheanacho, who has signed for Bursaspor on a free transfer, rejecting the offer of a new contract at Parkhead.

Duran is an exciting young talent, with the potential to be a star, but he has yet to show in his career that he can deliver consistently in the final third at league level.

In two seasons of playing regular first-team football, the Colombian attacker has only scored 14 goals in 56 appearances, which is a decent, but not outstanding, record.

His form for Qarabag and Portimonense suggests that there is no guarantee that he will score goals on a regular basis for Celtic in the Premiership, which is why they still need to bring in a proven goalscorer who can be relied up on week-in-week-out.

Duran upgrade wants to sign for Celtic this summer

With this in mind, the board should take advantage of this latest report suggesting that a proven striker is keen on a move to Parkhead ahead of next season.

The Daily Record reports that Kyogo Furuhashi has his heart set on a return to Celtic for a second spell in Glasgow before the end of the summer transfer window.

Birmingham manager Chris Davies has told the Japan international that he is not a part of his plans for the upcoming season, which has opened the door for an exit from the Championship side in the coming weeks.

The report claims that Kyogo wants to return to the Hoops, but the Scottish giants will need to strike a deal with Birmingham, after they failed to do so in the January window.

Celtic must now enter negotiations with the Blues to agree a deal, whether that is on loan or on a permanent basis, to bring the Japanese striker back to Parkhead to bolster Martin O’Neill‘s squad.

Kyogo, who signed for Birmingham from Rennes for £10m last year, only scored three goals for Davies last season, but he is a proven goalscorer in Scottish football who could hit the ground running in Glasgow.

The experienced forward scored at least 19 goals in all three of his full seasons with the club, before leaving to sign for Rennes for £10m halfway through the 2024/25 campaign.

Kyogo hit double figures for goals in the Premiership in all four of his seasons at Parkhead, including the one he left halfway through, whilst Duran has never hit double figures for goals in a league season in his career.

The Japan international, who once scored 34 goals in one campaign for the Hoops, is levels above Duran at this moment in time, because of what he has already achieved in a Celtic shirt.

Kyogo would be expected to comfortably score ten or more goals in the Premiership, given his previous record at the club, whilst Duran’s club career so far does not suggest that he is guaranteed to be a success in front of goal.

Signing the Japanese star could, therefore, be the perfect move to follow the signing of Duran, because O’Neill would have a proven and experienced number nine to complement the young and promising understudy.