With the summer transfer window closing later this month, Celtic has little over two months to bolster their playing roster.
As they get ready to bolster Brendan Rodgers’ squad in anticipation of the 2024–2025 season, the Hoops have not yet made their first summer acquisition.
In the Northern Irish head coach’s first season back in the dugout at Parkhead, they won the domestic double last year.
After winning the Scottish Premiership for the third straight season, the Bhoys defeated Rangers 1-0 at Hampden Park to win the SFA Cup, all thanks to a goal from loanee Adam Idah.
According to recent reports, Celtic is interested in signing the Irish striker to a long-term contract, but Johannes Hoff Thorup, the new manager of Norwich, wants to watch him during preseason play before deciding what to do with him.
Yogo Furuhashi may once again be the Canaries’ primary goal scorer at season’s end if they are unable to persuade the team to part ways with the six-foot-3 marksman.
They are apparently looking to add a new forward, so they may find the Japan international an exciting partner at the top of the pitch to lessen the strain of scoring goals.
Celtic’s pursuit of a dynamic young winger
Celtic is one of the teams vying for a deal to sign Sogndal Football winger Edmund Baidoo this summer, according to GhanaSoccerNet.
According to the source, he is attracting’significant’ attention from other teams due to his strong play in Norway’s second division this season.
According to the report, Brighton & Hove Albion, a Premier League team, has initiated contact with the player and his advisors in anticipation of a potential transfer.
According to GhanaSoccerNet, Club Brugge, Leeds United, and Celtic are also interested in signing the gifted young player to enhance their attacking lineups.
His contract doesn’t expire until the summer of 2027, according to the article, so Sogndal won’t be under much pressure to cash in on him.
However, given the interest from other teams throughout Europe this summer, it is unclear how much the Norwegian team is likely to want for the adolescent prodigy.
If the young player can adjust to Scottish football, the Hoops may find an intriguing partner for Kyogo in the Premiership next season if they can reach an agreement with them and win the competition for his signature.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s previous season’s troubles
Given the Japanese forward’s outstanding achievements under Ange Postecoglou the season before, Celtic fans could have been forgiven for anticipating big things from him.
Just now, he was crowned the PFA Scotland Player of the Year for the 2022–2023 season with an incredible return of 27 goals in 31 Premiership games.
Sadly, the 29-year-old attacker failed in front of goal during the 2023–24 season, making it impossible for him to duplicate that performance under Rodgers the previous year.
The Japan international’s form collapsed from the 2022–2023 season to the current one, as the table above illustrates, and it appeared as though his goal-scoring ability had abandoned him.
Kyogo missed an incredible 24 “big chances” and only scored 14 goals in 38 games. He also performed worse than his xG of 18.39 by 4.39, the greatest underperformance in the team.
This demonstrates that the seasoned loser did not take advantage of the opportunities his teammates often created for him in the Premiership.
Due to his poor play in the closing third, Celtic needed their wingers to step up and compensate for his shortcomings by finding the scoreboard.
Unfortunately, Nicolas Kuhn only managed two goals in 14 appearances after joining from Rapid Wien in January, and Daizen Maeda and Luis Palma combined for just 13 league goals.
But by completing a deal to recruit Baidoo, Rodgers may potentially acquire a winger who might offer a greater goal threat from the flank, relieving some of the weight on Kyogo to be a reliable goal scorer for the Scottish powerhouses.
Reasons for signing Edmund Baidoo by Celtic
The 18-year-old sensation should be signed by the Hoops right away because of his performance in Norway’s second division this season, which indicates that he has the ability to grow into a terrific attacker.
It is important to note that the Premiership winners would be taking a risk with this move because, as a teenage star, he has not yet appeared in the top division or in a major European nation, so there is no assurance that his success would carry over to Scotland.
But given his incredible play in the 2024 campaign, it may be well worth the gamble given the possibility that he could develop into Kyogo’s excellent and desperately needed top-end partner.
With Norway’s leagues lasting a calendar year instead of August to May, the young genius, who turned 18 in January, has had an impressive start to the season with Sogndal.
With a conversion percentage of 19%, which is higher than Kyogo’s 14% in the Premiership last season, the Ghana-born starlet has offered a potent goal threat from the right wing, as you can see in the table above.
In 17 appearances in all competitions this season, the right-footed ace has picked up eight goals and six assists for a total of 14 involvements. That equates to a direct goal contribution per 1.21 matches on average.
Although playing in Norway’s second division, Baidoo—whom GhanaSoccerNet creator Sannie Daara praised as “in-form”—has demonstrated an amazing ability to score and create goals at a rapid pace.
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