Kyogo Furuhashi has handed Celtic a huge pre-match boost ahead of the Viaplay Cup Final by insisting he isn't interested in a megabucks move to Crystal Palace or anywhere else.
And the Japanese talisman has stressed that his only thought is to help Ange Postecoglou's side be as successful as possible. The 28-year-old has been in outstanding form for Celtic this season and has netted 22 goals in 36 appearances. He was linked with a big money move to the English Premier League with Palace reported to be leading the chase. But Kyogo is happy at Celtic.
He said: "I want to be as successful as possible with this club. My focus is only on Celtic to be able to have the most possible success for the club, As a team, we want to win as many titles as possible with Celtic. As my personal goal, I would like to score 30 goals this season.
“But of course, I don't know what will happen in the future. So I just want to score as many goals as possible and contribute to the team's victory."
And Furuhashi, in an interview in Germany, revealed how he reckons he's not even close to his peak and how his teammates helped him get over his World Cup heartache after he was surprisingly snubbed for the Qatar Finals in November. He said: "Obviously I'm not a great player, so I still need to keep working on my game and improving.
"My positional play, for example, or the timing when I offer myself for a pass, or that I will be even more varied in my finishing. I keep working on those things in training so that I can implement all of these processes in the game in the best possible way.
"I am very grateful because I have great teammates, club staff and fans who all always support me. Fans who cheer me on, a team of coaches who trust me as well as teammates who fight for the ball with a lot of physical effort and create chances with wonderful passes.
"I want to repay everyone's trust by scoring goals, running a lot, with and without the ball, to help the team win. After the World Cup squad announcement, I immediately switched my mind and concentrated on the upcoming Celtic Champions League game against Real Madrid, but I wasn't able to play the way I had hoped for and I was therefore no help to our team.
"But I was very happy that my teammates kept encouraging me to help build me up again. So I was very determined to do even better and score more goals to not only win matches, but to make all my teammates smile.
"And during the World Cup, I was really inspired by the fighting spirit of the Japanese internationals. It was a bit different than watching previous tournaments because this time it was all players that I played with.
"This made me want to work on my skills even more and improve the quality of my game. I think that my development curve is currently pointing in a good direction.”
And Kyogo believes his current progress is down to playing some of the legends he worked with in his homeland. He pointed out: "At Vissel Kobe we had a lot of good players. It was a great experience to train and play with players like Andres Iniesta or David Villa and also with wonderful Japanese players with international experience like Gotoku Sakai or Hotaru Yamaguchito.
"I was able to learn a lot, for example in terms of the intensity and quality of the game, or the great passion of wanting to win every game. I think that I can currently show that I have learned from all these experiences and that I am very willing to keep growing,
"I also watch a lot of football which is educational for me and of course I watch the Bundesliga, which is very popular in Japan because many Japanese players play there and have important roles in the respective clubs. I believe that the success of many Japanese players abroad will encourage all the people who play football in the country, especially the children."
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