£5 million Celtic flop who was sold by Rodgers is outscoring Kyogo this season.

Celtic’s board demonstrated their faith in manager Brendan Rodgers during the recent summer transfer window by spending money on new signings.

To bolster their midfield options, the Hoops agreed to pay a club record £11 million to sign central midfielder Arne Engels from Bundesliga club Augsburg.

A new centre-forward was also required following Hyeon-gyu Oh’s permanent move to Genk, and the club spent the money to re-sign Adam Idah for Rodgers.

As shown in the table above, the Ireland international had a significant impact in the final third during his loan spell in Glasgow in the second half of last season, scoring eight goals in five Scottish Premiership starts.

That persuaded the Hoops to agree to a deal worth a reported £9.5 million, with £8.5 million guaranteed. If those add-ons are met, he could become the club’s second most expensive addition in history, trailing only Engels’ £11 million.

Despite the significant investment in the 6 foot 3 marksman, Kyogo Furuhashi has once again started the season as Celtic’s first-choice centre-forward.

Kyogo Furuhashi’s Performance Under Brendan Rodgers

Prior to Rodgers’ return last summer, the Japan international scored an impressive 27 goals in 31 premiership starts under Ange Postecoglou in 2022/23.

He had demonstrated his ability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis in the Scottish Premiership, and the Northern Irish manager may have been optimistic about what they could accomplish together at Parkhead.

Unfortunately, Kyogo’s form dipped significantly under Rodgers, and he has yet to replicate his 2022/23 season performances since.

As shown in the table above, the Japanese forward could not score more than 20 goals in the 2023/24 season, despite his outstanding performances the previous year.

However, Kyogo missed eight more ‘big chances’ on his way to scoring 13 fewer goals, so it was not due to the quality of the opportunities presented to him.

Despite his struggles last year and the signing of Idah, the 29-year-old forward has begun the current season as the first-choice number nine.

🗣️ "Derby Day isn't Derby Day without one of those from Kyogo!"

The Celtic striker places a shot from distance into the bottom corner, the champions are 2-0 up against Rangers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0vid4cchvX

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 1, 2024

Kyogo scored his first goal of the season against Rangers, a clever finish from distance past Jack Butland, and has one goal and one assist in four games across all competitions thus far.

Albian Ajeti, a former Celtic player who Rodgers sold last year, is currently outscoring the Japan international this season.

Celtic’s Albian Ajeti nightmare.

In the summer of 2020, then-Hoops manager Neil Lennon swooped to sign the Switzerland international from Premier League club West Ham United.

The Scottish giants paid £5 million to sign the striker, who took a pay cut from his £60,000-per-week salary and signed a four-year contract at Parkhead.

Ajeti had failed to score or assist in 12 appearances for the Hammers across all competitions during his time in England, but this did not deter Lennon or Celtic from spending £5 million on the 23-year-old.

The young attacker was given plenty of opportunities to shine by the Hoops manager in his first season, making 30 appearances across all competitions in 2020/21.

Ajeti had an unremarkable return of six goals and four assists in those 30 appearances, failing to live up to his £5 million price tag and failing to persuade Ange Postecoglou, who arrived at the end of that season, that he was good enough to play regularly.

A second-half brace from striker Albian Ajeti sealed Celtic's 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over Ross County at Parkhead

Highlights 👇 pic.twitter.com/PGIDiB0fPI

— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 11, 2021

The Australian manager gave him only 17 appearances during the 2021/22 season, during which the Swiss forward scored three goals and assisted once.

Postecoglou then loaned him to Sturm Graz, where he scored four goals and assisted once in 23 games, before Rodgers arrived last summer and decided to sell the striker.

Gaziantep, a Turkish club, swooped in to sign the centre-forward in September 2023 for a reported fee of £500,000, a significant drop from Celtic’s £5 million purchase price.

What happened with Albian Ajeti?

The now-27-year-old striker currently plays for Swiss giants Basel in his home country after a brief stint with Gaziantep in Turkey.

Ajeti scored one goal in five Super Lig matches before joining Basel on a free transfer at the beginning of February this year.

The £5 million Celtic flop had a rocky start to his second spell with the Swiss club, scoring one goal in six games in the second half of last season, but has started the current season on fire.

In fact, Ajeti’s impressive start to the season for Basel has him outscoring Kyogo Furuhashi in the league and across all competitions.

After a difficult few years at West Ham, Celtic, and Gaziantep, the Swiss international has finally found his stride as a goal scorer and creator.

As shown in the table above, Ajeti has scored three more goals and missed five fewer ‘big chances’ than Kyogo in the league this season.

He has also created five more ‘big chances’ and provided two more assists, demonstrating that the forward has become a more valuable asset to his team as a creative threat in the centre-forward position.

In addition to his outstanding performances in the Super League, Ajeti scored two goals and assisted once in a Swiss Cup match last month, bringing his total to six goals and four assists in seven matches across all competitions.

It will be interesting to see how Kyogo and Ajeti compare by the end of the 2024/25 season, and whether the ex-Celtic flop can maintain his good form.

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