Despite Julian Alvarez’s move to Atletico Madrid being confirmed over a week ago, Manchester City are yet to replace him.
Whether City were considering bringing in a striker to replace Alvarez or content with reverting back to a system revolving around a false nine once again was the million-dollar question.
Recently, Erling Haaland admitted he is pain-free for the first time in a while.
Even so, Pep Guardiola’s side would not wish to assume that Haaland will remain injury-free and risk not signing a striker due to his revelation.
A potential injury to the £51 million goalscorer could derail Manchester City’s season.
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Man City’s interest in Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi
In the past two seasons, Alvarez has scored 19 and 17 goals in all competitions respectively — making him an extremely reliable squad player.
Rio Ferdinand tipped Arsenal to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title due to the Argentine’s move to Atletico Madrid; such is the impact many consider he had during his time in England.
Alan Shearer also stressed Alvarez’s importance to City, claiming that he played a vital role in their title triumph last season.
A report by The Athletic has revealed that Manchester City are now targeting Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi and another young marksman as their replacements for the Copa America winner.
The Japanese frontman has caught the decision-makers’ eye at the Etihad Stadium and it is believed that he is willing to join the Premier League winners — who has scored 75 goals in 135 appearances for the Scottish giants.
Furthermore, agreeing personal terms with the 29-year-old is not considered to be a potential issue due to his desire to sign for the club.
Manchester City aim to sign a backup striker who is willing to play irregular minutes, knowing that their role will be to serve as an understudy to Haaland; however, only after City sign Ilkay Gundogan will they focus on their move for a number nine.
Ange Postecoglou described Furuhashi as “outstanding” via STV News during his time as Celtic boss.
One huge concern for Man City if they sign Kyogo Furuhashi
The Celtic goalscorer is currently nursing a shoulder injury, for which his manager Brendan Rodgers reckons he could be ruled out for four months if Furuhashi decides to get surgery.
Rodgers said via the Daily Record: “He could have surgery but it takes him out for probably about four months.”
“It’s only him that can decide that because you see a lot of times he gets through games fine. But then times he’ll fall, maybe it’ll be awkward and he has an irritation. Listen, he’s a 29-year-old man now so he’ll understand what he wants to do. But again, he’s managed it for a longer period, much longer than he’s been at Celtic.”
The Manchester City target was ruled out of Celtic’s latest 3-1 win against Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup.
Whether City would be open to bringing in Furuhashi due to his ongoing injury woes would likely be a concern for them.
If the Japanese international decides not to get surgery, there would be a possibility that he further aggravates his shoulder injury.
However, as Brendan Rodgers claimed, if Furuhashi does get surgery, he could be out of action for months.
Ideally, City would like to sign a striker who is available from the get-go in case Haaland is either injured or needs to be rested.
As a result, it will be interesting to discover Manchester City’s approach regarding Furuhashi.
