Kyogo Furuhashi's Struggles at Birmingham City
When Birmingham City prised Kyogo Furuhashi away from Celtic in the summer of 2025, it felt like a statement. A Championship newcomer landing a forward who had plundered 85 goals in 165 games for the dominant force in Scotland, a striker with Champions League minutes in his legs and a reputation for razor-sharp movement. On paper, it looked like a coup.
The vision was clear enough. Kyogo buzzing between the lines, Jay Stansfield stretching defences, St Andrew’s roaring as the pair tore into Championship backlines. Instead, the dream never got off the ground.
The 31-year-old never found his stride. He started slowly, then slower still. Early chances went begging, early momentum evaporated, and with it went the confidence Birmingham had banked on. By the time a long-standing shoulder problem forced him into surgery and ended his season, his league tally stood at just one goal.
For a player with his pedigree, that return has been jarring.
Former Birmingham favourite Clinton Morrison, speaking to GOAL in association with Freebets.com, admitted he has struggled to make sense of the collapse.
“I can't believe why it's not working because at Celtic his movement and the chances and the goals he was scoring were fantastic,” Morrison said. “He was getting the chances at Birmingham City but just wasn't putting them in, and that can happen. That's just a player short on confidence and it hasn't really worked out.”
The numbers tell only part of the story. Kyogo still ran. He still pressed. He still offered the tireless work rate that endeared him to Celtic supporters. But graft without goals is a hard sell for a No.9 in the Championship.
“His work rate's fantastic but you've got to have a bit more than work rate when you're a number nine,” Morrison added. “You need to score goals and he was getting opportunities and he was just rushing at them.”
That rushing became a theme. The more he snatched at chances, the more the anxiety grew. The more the anxiety grew, the more the goal seemed to shrink.
Morrison is convinced that the story could have been very different had Kyogo hit the ground running.
“I think if he had started there in his first few games and started scoring a lot of goals as a centre-forward, his confidence would have just gone back through the roof and he would have scored a lot of goals, but he hasn't been anywhere near it.”
Instead, Birmingham are left with a dilemma. A high earner, a big reputation, and a season that never really started.
“That's a player they could move on because he's on big money and they try to see if they can get some money for him,” Morrison said. “Or do they stick with him and say, ‘this season could be your season and we don't have to spend money because he should be scoring goals in the Championship’.”
The conundrum is sharpened by his past. This is not an unproven gamble from abroad. This is a forward who bullied defences in the Scottish Premiership, who scored for fun in Glasgow. That history keeps the door ajar.
“He scored goals in the Scottish Premiership, so it's a difficult one. I hope he stays and I hope next season is his season,” Morrison admitted, before issuing a reminder of Birmingham’s financial muscle. “But you never know at Birmingham City because they have money - they can bring in players and move players on.”
Kyogo’s struggles have not gone unnoticed by those who watch the EFL week in, week out. Don Goodman, the former striker turned pundit, has seen the decline unfold in real time.
He told GOAL that what began as a dream signing quickly unravelled.
“He started missing real gilt-edge chances in those first six, eight games and you could slowly but surely just see the confidence drain away from him,” Goodman said.
The misses mounted, the scrutiny intensified, and the transfer that had been hailed as shrewd business began to look like an expensive misstep.
“In terms of value for money, it's gone horribly wrong with regard to that particular transfer,” Goodman admitted. “And it's surprising, really. I like his movement. He's energetic, he's quick. But he didn't look like he could hit a barn door, if I'm honest with you, after a difficult start.”
So Birmingham stand at a crossroads. Do they cut their losses on a marquee signing who never found his rhythm, or gamble that a fully fit, mentally reset Kyogo can finally translate his Celtic form to England’s unforgiving second tier?
For a club with ambition and resources, the answer to that question may define more than just one man’s future.
