Journalist Anthony Joseph has claimed that Celtic have looked at their best when they have Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, and Jota in the squad.
Since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as Celtic manager, he has brought in a host of new faces, as the club needed a rebuild after the horror in the 2020/21 season when they fell 25 points short to their city rivals who went the Scottish Premiership season undefeated.
There were some signings that had a greater impact than others at Celtic since their arrival, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Kyogo, and Jota were all brought in by the Australian manager and they went on to be the club’s top three goal scorers.
After the new signings made an instant impact last season when Celtic won the Scottish Premiership, Joseph claimed to GiveMeSport that having Furuhashi, Jota, and Maeda fit are when they are at their best and playing the best football.
“Definitely, and to have those three fit, Celtic have looked at their best when they’ve had those three fit, and I would even include [Liel] Abada in that,” said Joseph.
TIF Thoughts on Joseph’s comments…
With Postecoglou making wholesale changes last summer, there might have been doubts over whether the squad would become disjointed or not, but it was the complete opposite, as the new faces were some of the top performers for the Hoops.
Kyogo, Maeda, and Jota scored a combined total of 41 goals in all competitions last season, whilst adding 24 assists, which was a huge part of Celtic’s double trophy-winning campaign in Postecoglou’s first season in charge.
Jota was on loan with Celtic last season, and his 27-goal involvements in 40 games were enough for the Hoops to want to sign him on a permanent deal from Benfica, so the Australian coach will be buzzing to get the deal over the line ahead of next season.
This could be seen as a headache for Postecoglou going into the new campaign – to keep all these stars happy. However, it should be something the Australian, we think, will be delighted with to have such fierce competition for places in his XI.