Celtic made the daring choice to cash in on fan favourite Kyogo Furuhashi in the January transfer window without replacing him before the second half of the season.
The Hoops transferred the striker to Ligue 1 club Rennes and instead went with Adam Idah and Daizen Maeda as their two senior number nine options, leading to their Scottish Premiership victory.
Rennes reportedly spent £10 million to sign the 30-year-old striker from Celtic, who made gold by selling him to the French club at that price.
Why Celtic struck gold by selling Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Hoops pulled off a coup by selling him to the Ligue 1 side for £10 million because he has struggled in France and is apparently likely to leave the club after only five months.
According to recent reports in Japan, Kyogo is expected to join English Championship club Birmingham City, which would be a step down from playing in one of Europe’s major leagues and winning championships with Celtic.
The 30-year-old striker went scoreless in six Ligue 1 games for Rennes in the second half of the 2024/25 season and was an unused substitute six times.
Kyogo’s market worth has plunged as a result of his performance in France, falling from £12 million at the time of his departure to £7.7 million at the time of writing, according to Transfermarkt.
This demonstrates that Celtic struck gold by selling him to Rennes for a cost of £10 million, given his market value has already fallen below that level, while also hitting the jackpot with another Japan international who is worth even more than the forward.
Celtic hit the jackpot with Reo Hatate.
During his time at the club, former Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou was a major fan of the Japanese market, signing Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and Tomoki Iwata in addition to Kyogo.
Hatate is one of the talents the club has struck gold with because he is now worth more than the former Celtic striker, who was valued at £12 million on Transfermarkt in January and moved for a cost of £10 million.
The 27-year-old arrived from Kawasaki Frontale in January 2022 and has since established himself as a prominent component in the Scottish midfield.
He recently had his most productive season in the Premiership, with ten goals and 14 ‘great chances created’, and his market worth reflects this.
| Reo Hatate’s soaring market value at Celtic | |
|---|---|
| Date | Market value |
| January 2022 | £700k |
| June 2022 | £2m |
| December 2022 | £3.5m |
| March 2023 | £5.5m |
| June 2023 | £9.5m |
| June 2024 | £8.5m |
| December 2024 | £9.5m |
| June 2025 | £11m |
| Valuations via Transfermarkt | |
As shown in the table above, Hatate’s value has increased by millions throughout his stay at Parkhead, reaching £11 million at the time of writing, which is more than £3 million higher than Kyogo’s current market value.
This demonstrates that the team struck gold by bringing him to Glasgow in 2022, as they successfully identified a player with the potential to improve and increase in value.
Hopefully, Hatate will continue to shine on the field and his market value will skyrocket before the Hoops may profit from him in the future if they chose to cash in on him, as they did with Kyogo.
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