Birmingham City may already be concerned over £10m Kyogo Furuhashi - Oxford United evidence was worrying | OneFootball

Kyogo Furuhashi didn't have the best of performances in Saturday's win over Oxford United

Birmingham City got over the line against Oxford United on Saturday, despite being frustrated for the most part by the visiting Yellows.

The Blues won 1-0 thanks to a goal five minutes from half-time from Paik Seung-Ho, deservedly, too, after having the majority of possession, creating more big chances and forcing Oxford into a number of important blocks and clearances.

Ultimately, though, Chris Davies' side could have had a lot more on the day, if not for some wasteful finishing by their marquee £10 million signing, Kyogo Furuhashi.

The 30-year-old missed all three of Birmingham's big chances and ended the game with an xG of 1.03 without finding the back of the net.

Furuhashi is still on the search for his first Championship goal, and whilst there are plenty of positives in his work to get into scoring positions, a few alarm bells may be ringing in Birmingham at his lack of ability to finish them early in the season.

Kyogo Furuhashi was off the boil for Birmingham City vs Oxford United

It wasn't the best of performances for Furuhashi against Oxford, as the former Celtic man spurned a few opportunities that he'd become used to finishing during his time at the Scottish giants.

The worst of which saw a one-on-one put wide of the mark early in the first half, after he was perfectly slid through by Willum Willumsson, but he also put a header over the bar from point-blank range as he got on the end of a Demarai Gray cross ahead of Oxford keeper Jamie Cumming.

In the end, these misses didn't cost the Blues the game, as Paik's composed finish before half-time secured all three points, but there's a strong argument to be made that Chris Davies' side should have been one or two up before the South Korean netted what went on to be the deciding goal.

The 30-year-old frontman was the first to be substituted, too, as Chris Davies put an end to the frustrating afternoon by replacing Furuhashi with Tommy Doyle. Now, despite registering an expected goals of 1.27 across the first three games of the season, the 30-year-old is yet to find the net in the league.

Furuhashi's career stalled somewhat during the second half of last season whilst at Rennes, failing to score in his limited time on the pitch for the French side. He hasn't scored a league goal since January 11th, when he scored twice for Celtic against Ross County.

It could be a case of getting rid of the rustiness he found himself developing between January and May, but there may be some concerns that Furuhashi isn't living up to his eight-figure price tag.

Fans shouldn't be quick to judge Birmingham City's Kyogo Furuhashi this season

Whilst it's easy to look at the price tag and the chances that Kyogo has missed so far this season and jump to conclusions surrounding him being a waste of money, the performances so far by the 30-year-old have been promising, if lacking that end product.

Furuhashi was dominant against the Ipswich Town backline on opening day, and arguably was aggrieved to not have opened his scoring account on his debut, especially after having his goal ruled out for a foul on Jacob Greaves - a decision which split opinion.

He was then instrumental in the opener against the Tractor Boys, and whilst ineffective against Blackburn Rovers a little over a week ago, his performance on Saturday warranted a goal - it was simply just one of those days for the striker.

You get the feeling that, if Furuhashi continues to be in the right places, the goals will come, and once one goes in the league, the floodgates could open up, and we may see the Kyogo who dominated defences in Scotland.

And the fact that Birmingham have managed seven points out of nine without their star signing firing will make for dangerous viewing for opposition fans once Furuhashi finds his feet in this new division.