The January transfer window is a matter of days away from officially opening for business and it could be an interesting month ahead for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic.
It was recently reported that MLS side Atlanta United are eyeing up a swoop to sign Kyogo Furuhashi, who they were willing to pay £10m for in the summer, ahead of their 2025 campaign.
Selling the Japan international, who has scored six league goals and missed 14 ‘big chances’ this season, could force the Hoops to go into the market to add a new centre-forward to their squad.
If they do need to sign another attacker, Rodgers should look to sign a forward who could complement Adam Idah in the final third, to help ignite his Celtic career.
Adam Idah's unfulfilled potential
The Ireland international joined the Scottish Premiership champions from Norwich City on a permanent deal in the summer, after his initial loan spell last term, but has failed to establish himself as a regular starter.
Idah has started five of his 13 league appearances for Celtic, after starting five of 15 last season, and has still managed to find the back of the net on five occasions.
An underrated aspect of the 6 foot 3 marksman’s game is his link-up play. He has the quality and presence of mind to be able to hold the ball up and play clever passes to teammates making runs off the back of him, which was on display on Sunday.
As you can see in the highlights above, Idah created the biggest chance of the match by sending Kyogo through on goal, only for the Japanese forward to fluff his lines.
Earlier this month, Celtic were linked with an interest in Brondby forward Mathias Kvistgaarden, who was valued at £8.5m in the summer, and he could be the perfect attacker to come in and ignite the Irishman’s Celtic career.
Why Celtic should sign Mathias Kvistgaarden
Firstly, the 22-year-old star is a versatile forward who can play on either flank or as an attacking midfielder, despite his main position being as a number nine, and this means that he could play alongside Idah in the attack – out wide or behind him.
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Rodgers could, therefore, unleash both of them at the same time and utilise Kvistgaarden’s pace and movement in behind by putting him in a position to be able to run off the back of the former Norwich man, who has the ability to spin and find him with passes in-behind.
Starts
12
Goals
10
Big chances missed
6
Left foot goals
4
Right foot goals
4
Assists
4
As you can see in the table above, the Danish dynamo has been incredibly prolific in the Superliga this season, with four more goals than Kyogo and eight fewer ‘big chances’ missed, which suggests that he would be a far more effective partner for Idah.
His versatile finishing, with an equal number of left-footed and right-footed goals, also shows that he could thrive on either wing to play with the Irishman, as the youngster can finish with both feet and excel in any goalscoring situation.
Therefore, Rodgers must swoop for Kvistgaarden, who was described as “absolutely sensational” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, because he could help to ignite Idah’s career by providing the manager with a player who would be perfect alongside him at the top end of the pitch.
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