Birmingham City can deliver Premier League promotion if 85-goal star hits the mark | OneFootball

Former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi could deliver Premier League promotion for Birmingham City if he rediscovers his form.

Having romped to the League One title last season, Birmingham City will now be lining up back-to-back automatic promotions, and they may well have the striker to do so in Japan international Kyogo Furuhashi.

Birmingham set the all-time EFL points tally last season as they clinched the League One title by amassing a staggering 111 points, finishing 19 points clear of runners’ up Wrexham and 24 points clear of third place Stockport County.

The Blues, under the management of Chris Davies with Tom Wagner as owner, spent heavily last summer, and have continued to invest into the squad so far this summer, too.

The likes of Demarai Gray, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Kanya Fujimoto have arrived alongside loanees James Beadle, Tommy Doyle and Eiran Cashin; with Davies and Birmingham expected to mount a serious and sustained challenge for promotion to the Premier League.

Arguably the marquee addition, though, aside from all of those other incomings, has been former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais for an undisclosed fee.

There will be a feeling, and a justified one at that, that if City can get Furuhashi adapted and firing in the Championship then they could propel themselves to the top-flight this season.

Furuhashi showed the scoring touch at Celtic

Having arrived at Celtic from Vissel Kobe in the summer of 2021, Furuhashi almost immediately became a cult hero at Parkhead, thanks to his goal scoring exploits.

In three and a half seasons for the Bhoys, Furuhashi notched 85 goals in 165 matches across all competitions, capable of scoring in the UEFA Champions League as well as dominating in the Scottish Premiership.

A tireless worker matched with an undoubted quality in front of goal, as well as knowing when to get into the right positions, Furuhashi even attracted interest from Manchester City during his time in Glasgow.

Now, the 30-year-old attacker, who has scored five goals in 23 caps for the Japanese national team, is embarking upon another challenge and has arrived in England for the first time in his career.

Birmingham supporters, as well as Chris Davies, will believe that if he can rediscover the form he showed at Celtic, then they could have a decisive figure up-front, and someone who could be a difference maker in their pursuit of promotion.

The concerns over Furuhashi at Birmingham

The immediate concern over Furuhashi would be that his calendar year has been an extremely underwhelming one, and that could lead to it taking time for him to get back up to speed.

Having left Celtic for Rennes in the January transfer window, Furuhashi, within days of joining, then saw manager Jorge Sampaoli depart the club to be replaced by Habib Beye.

The former Newcastle United defender clearly wasn’t overly keen on Furuhashi, with the Japanese forward making just six Ligue 1 appearances in the second-half of last season.

The other concern would be how realistic it is that a player can translate their form from the Scottish Premiership to the English Championship, with large gaps in quality.

Aside from the argument over quality, which we can never be sure of, one thing that is for certain is the different styles of games that Furuhashi is now set to be involved in.

At Celtic, he was always in front of goal and waiting for the ball to land at his feet or for him to occasionally snuff out a decent chance for a team that would dominate the game to an almost comical degree.

At Birmingham, unlike in League One last season, they aren’t going to have it their own way as much, despite a desire to dominate possession, as they come up against more well-matched opposition; and that could mean Furuhashi finds it a bit tougher.

There is perhaps more risk to the signing than many may immediately think, but the fact of the matter is that for Birmingham to have brought in a player with his record and previous reputation, it is a coup.

If Davies can find the right tactical setup to get the best out of Furuhashi this season, then the best of Furuhashi could well see them end up in the Premier League this time next year.