Manchester City had a very quiet summer – but one player the club reportedly considered has made a fine start to 2024/25.
City brought in just two players in the last window.
Winger Savinho signed from Troyes in a deal that could reach £33 million. That deal had been on the cards for some time before it was actually confirmed.
City’s other summer recruit was Ilkay Gundogan, which was a move that certainly came out of nowhere.
It is not a summer window that will live too long in the memory, and it will be interesting to see at the end of the season if City did ‘enough’.
One man who was considered was Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi, who has rather sent a message to Pep Guardiola with his recent performances.
Man City summer target Kyogo Furuhashi has started the season superbly for Celtic
When City sold Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid for £81.5 million, fans were very intrigued to see who, if anyone, would come in.
It was reported that City did consider Japan international Kyogo.
Pep had seen firsthand what the forward is all about when he played against City in pre-season, when Celtic won 4-3 in North Carolina.
It was suggested that Celtic were seeking a fee in the region of £20 million.
In the end, City decided against a swoop. The club decided to bring Gundogan back on a free transfer, with the German having shown during his first spell at the club that he can offer goals.
Since the links to City, Kyogo has enjoyed a very good start to the new season for Celtic.
On Saturday, he featured in a 6-0 win for Celtic away at St Johnstone and he was on target twice, also laying on an assist for Paulo Bernardo.
He is now up to six goal contributions in just seven appearances for Celtic, and one does wonder if City will come to regret not making a move.
Kyogo would be a nice option to have for Man City
There will be people who will argue that Kyogo is playing in a league that is inferior to the Premier League.
But Kyogo – who was recently hailed as ‘sensational’ by Chris Sutton after his performance against Rangers – also has three goals in the Champions League to his name in his career, and has five in 21 for Japan.
At club level, the 29-year-old has scored 115 goals and made 45 assists in 263 appearances.
Those are good numbers and he might well have been able to replace the output that was lost when Alvarez left.
It has undoubtedly been a productive start to the new season for Kyogo and City should genuinely keep tabs on him in the coming months.
The club tend not to make signings in January. But if City are off the pace in the league by the time the next window opens and goalscoring is an issue at the time, or Erling Haaland is injured, then Kyogo should be considered.
