Journalist Stuart Hodge believes that Premier League clubs should give Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi 18 months before looking to sign him.
The 26-year-old only completed a move to Celtic Park during the summer from J1-League side Vissel Kobe for an undisclosed fee, penning a four-year deal with the Hoops [BBC Sport].
Furuhashi was in fine form for Vissel Kobe last term, scoring 16 goals and registering two assists before his move to Celtic.
The10-cap Japan international has now seemingly captured the attention of one Premier League side, with Calciomercato reporting that Southampton have set their sights on the forward.
Have you been impressed with Furuhashi for Celtic this season?
Yes
No
Hodge believes that Premier League clubs should give him 18 months in Scotland though before looking to sign him, telling TIF: “Seems a bit early and I think to be honest if I was a scout at one of these Premier League teams, I would be looking at it and I would be saying, ‘let’s give him a year and a half to learn the language and adapt culturally’. But once he’s been at Celtic Park 18 months, I think it’s open season.”
Southampton have previous purchase history from Celtic with players such as Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster moving south.
After tiltie-winning years at Celtic Park, both players went on to join Southampton, before Forster moved back to Celtic on loan for the 2019-2020 campaign and Van Dijk made the switch to Liverpool.