Celtic told £1.6m star will replace Kyogo Furuhashi up top and not Adam Idah

It’s now the waiting game for Celtic and Kyogo Furuhashi.

Everyone is waiting for the final details to be confirmed as Kyogo heads for the Celtic exit door and the Glasgow giants begin a new era.

The Japan superstar made goalscoring look easy, so the next man to fill his boots will have a tough job on his hands.

Not only did Kyogo score a high volume of goals – 85 in Celtic colours – but he also scored in the biggest of games, with eight strikes against Rangers alone.

Celtic face Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but that match won’t be a true reflection of how Brendan Rodgers will line up his forward line because of the players available to him.

You suspect that Adam Idah will start up top at Villa Park, but he isn’t the one tipped to replace Kyogo once he leaves.

Daizen Maeda backed to replace Kyogo Furuhashi up top for Celtic

Daizen Maeda is suspended for Celtic’s match against Villa, but it would have been interesting to see how Rodgers would have lined up had he been available.

But despite Celtic paying big bucks for Idah – and he made a telling impact against Young Boys – Scott Allan is backing Maeda to be the ‘natural’ fit up top, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.

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Of course, if Rodgers then brings in that number nine via the transfer market, then Maeda will return to his usual role, but even with Idah at the club, Allan sees the £1.6 million signing under Postecoglou as the better fit as the striker.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

“There is no doubt that Kyogo will be going with all Celtic fans’ best wishes,” said Allan.

“Some of the moments he has given them over the years and in big games. A striker I would have loved to have played with myself. Very, very intelligent and just a constant threat.

“For me, naturally, while they look for another striker, I think, Maeda will go down the middle. That front three, (including Jota), could be really deadly for Celtic.”

Maeda’s numbers for Celtic

One thing is for sure, Maeda has made huge strides under Rodgers and it could be argued that he is playing his best football under the Irishman.

Not only is the all-action forward being more consistent up top, but he is also scoring the big goals, as he proved when Celtic beat Rangers in the League Cup final last month.

That’s 15 goals to the Japan star’s name, five more than what he produced last season, four better than the campaign before that and seven better than when he first came in.

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