What Birmingham City target Kyogo Furuhashi’s estimated transfer value is – Blues may need to splash the cash | OneFootball

Former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is a target for Birmingham City. FLW has taken a look at his market value.

As Birmingham City prepare for their return to the Championship, the Blues are seeking to be ambitious and even attempt to gain back-to-back promotions, aiming to return to the Premier League.

Their summer thus far has consisted of loanees Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Alfons Sampsted making permanent moves to St Andrews, as well as the arrival of Phil Neumann from Hannover, having signed a pre-contract agreement in January.

They have been linked with some high-profile signings in this summer's transfer window, one of which would be former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi.

Furuhashi departed the Bhoys for Rennes in the winter, a few months after he had been linked with a move to Manchester City, but he has struggled for regular minutes under the management of Habib Beye.

With the help of Transfermarkt, Football League World has looked at the estimated market value of Furuhashi, and just how much Blues may have to spend to tempt Rennes into the sale of the striker.

How much Kyogo Furuhashi is estimated to be worth as Birmingham City eye up deal

According to Transfermarkt, Furuhashi’s current market value is just short of £7.7 million, with reports suggesting that Rennes spent £10 million to bring in the 30-year-old just a few months ago.

That would mean Rennes would have to take an immediate hit on their outlay on the former Vissel Kobe striker, and so that would suggest Birmingham may well have to bid higher than what his supposed market value is.

As detailed via Transfermarkt, Furuhashi’s highest market value came in December 2023, when he was believed to be worth in the region of £12.8 million.

Rennes have a deep squad at the moment, having spent money once again in January to try and build a squad for Jorge Sampaoli and then for Beye.

That means they may well be tempted to cash in on a player who joined just a few days before the departure of Sampaoli, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them do business like that, with the Furuhashi deal itself seeing Jota move in the opposite direction to Celtic, just a few months after he had joined the French club.

Last summer, they sold the likes of Jeanuel Belocian, Enzo Le Fee, Martin Terrier and Desire Doue for big money, and that followed a summer in which they sold the likes of Lovro Majer, Lesley Ugochukwu, Loic Bade and Serhou Guirassy.

If Birmingham and Rennes did enter into business again, then it would be the second time in 12 months, after the sale of Jordan James to Roazhon Park last summer. That relationship may also help the second city club in their pursuit of Furuhashi.

How Kyogo Furuhashi’s value compares to Birmingham’s squad

Ikoma-born Furuhashi, who has scored five goals in 23 appearances for the Japanese national team, moved to Celtic in the summer of 2021 and went on to score 86 goals in 167 appearances across all competitions for the Hoops, helping them win four Scottish Premiership titles as well as two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups.

Since moving to Rennes, though, his value has diminished, failing to register a goal or an assist in six Ligue 1 appearances in the final few months of the campaign.

Transfermarkt suggests that the current overall value of the Birmingham squad is just short of £47 million, with Jay Stansfield the highest valued player at just over £9 million.

Birmingham flexed their muscles last summer to bring in Stansfield for a fee believed to be in the region of £15 million, well over twice what his supposed value was.

It could well be that Birmingham have to pay over Furuhashi’s market value, too, but his potential arrival would be a real coup for Chris Davies’ ambitious side.