Ange believes his Japanese Bhoy will light up Celtic Park, and have no language barrier
Ange Postecoglou believes Kyogo
Furuhashi can ride to Celtic’s rescue in Europe this week, .
Having crashed out of the Champions League against Midtjylland, the Hoops and their new manager now go hunting a Europa League berth.
FK Jablonec stand in their way, with the Czechs having home advantage in the first leg of the clubs’ Third Qualifying Round tie on Thursday night.
And, despite the disappointment against the Danes, Postecoglou is confident the boost introducing his new £4.6-million striker into the mix can make the difference.
“I think Kyogo will definitely be involved against Jablonec, and he will help our cause, as will Carl Starfelt,” said the Australian.
“It was disappointing to drop out of the Champions League, a competition that is very important to the club.
“It would have been great to get to the next round and try to get through to the group stages.
“But we now have the Europa League, which is another good competition.
“The good thing about Kyogo is that Japan was in mid-season, so he has good match fitness.
“And he is the kind of player the fans will enjoy watching. He is exciting. He certainly was in the J-league.
“Over there, attacking players tend to be foreigners, and he was the one Japanese attacking player who really excited every time he played.
“I tend to concentrate on my own team, but whenever we played Vissel Kobe, he stood out.
“They had some tremendous players in Andres Iniesta and Thomas Vermaelen, but Kyogo was the one I always knew was going to be a constant threat.
“It was the one game my defenders never looked forward to. They knew his ability to get in behind, break lines and use his speed.
“He was a constant source of aggravation to us.”
At 26 years old, Furuhashi is at a stage of his career where, the manager believes, he should be able to handle switching to a club more than 5,000 miles from home.
“Kyogo comes to us at a good age. He is not too young, so I don’t think he will be overawed by the experience,” said Postecoglou.
“He is at an age where I think he just really wants to prove himself over here in Europe.
“I think he will feed off the crowd, and the crowd will feed off him.
“I hope he has a really fantastic career at Celtic.
“To be fair to him, he began the process of learning English when he was in Japan.
“They’re pretty disciplined over there, and the ones who want to move to Europe start that process by themselves.
“It’s fair to say his English is a lot better than my Japanese!
“It will be great for Kyogo because it has been tough for him and Carl, who haven’t been able to get up here and join the group.”
The Greek-born Aussie admits he himself is catching his breath after what has been a hectic start to his new job.
“I’m getting there. My family arrived on Thursday, which is great and we have found a place to live,” he said.
“To be fair, it’s been tough the last month. We’ve been travelling a bit. We were down in Wales, and then we had the away game in Europe.
“It’s good that the family have finally arrived, and I’m really looking forward to settling into life here.
“My family is very good at understanding what I do, but I have got two young ones, who just don’t care if I have won, lost or whatever. They just want attention.
“That is great. And for all of us, I guess, knowing my wife and my kids are home in our space is very important. It’s important to have that balance.
“I’ve not had an opportunity to explore Glasgow at all. I just haven’t had a chance.
“I’ve got to say that Lennoxtown, and where I live, is my total existence right now.”