Celtic’s ‘excellent’ 73 goal ace attracting interest from Man City as replacement for £82m forward

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• EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey

HITC understands that Manchester City are showing an interest in a Celtic player this summer to replace Julian Alvarez.

After City planned on keeping Julian Alvarez this summer, the Argentine made it clear to the Premier League champions that he wanted to depart the Etihad Stadium for more first-team football.

Atletico Madrid completed the signing of Alvarez with Diego Simeone’s side paying an eyewatering £82 million for the former Boca Juniors striker, who City signed for just £14 million back in 2022.

As a result, City are looking for replacements and Pep Guardiola’s side were keen on Pedro Neto and Eberechi Eze but another name has been thrown into the mix.

Manchester City keen on Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi

HITC understands that City’s scouts have issued glowing reports on Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi – as they look to bring in another attacking player this month.

The Premier League champions, following their decision to sell Alvarez, were prepared to rely on Norwegian forward Oscar Bobb but after the Norwegian suffered a broken leg in training, the Citizens have decided to move for a forward.

HITC understands that City’s manager Pep Guardiola has told the club’s director of football Txiki Begiristain that another option for the club’s forward line would be welcomed.

City are understood to have a plethora of targets on their list this summer and one of these is Celtic forward Furuhashi.

Last season for the Scottish champions, Furuhashi netted 14 times in the Scottish Premiership and provided five assists for the club. This electric form led to manager Brendan Rodgers hailing the Japanese star as ‘excellent’ when speaking to The Celtic Way.

City have liked Furuhashi for a while

Since joining Celtic from Japanese side Vissel Kobe, Furuhashi has been consistent in the goalscoring department with his best run in front of goal coming in the 2022-23 campaign where he netted 27 times in the Scottish Premiership.

In fact, in his 135 appearances for the Scottish club, Furuhashi has netted 73 times and provided 16 assists, which has unsurprisingly led to interest in the 29-year-old.

HITC has been told that City’s scouts have been keeping close tabs on him since he arrived in Scotland in 2021 and they are hugely impressed with not only with his skillset but his ability to cope with the physicality of the British game.