Brendan Rodgers: Kyogo expected to complete Rennes switch after asking for move from Celtic

Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Kyogo Furuhashi is set to join Rennes after asking to leave Celtic – and a deal to sign Jota is near completion.

Kyogo flew to France following Celtic’s win over Young Boys that secured Champions League progress, and Rodgers said he will finalise his move to the Ligue 1 club in the next 24 hours.

At his regular Friday media conference. the Celtic boss explained that the Japanese striker and his representatives had told the club he wanted to seek a new challenge months ago.

“Kyogo had expressed an interest to leave a number of months back,” Rodgers said.

“Obviously then that expression becomes stronger and then it gets to this stage where he clearly wants to leave and we have to then do a deal and look to finalise that for him.

“He’s been an incredible player for the club in the three-and-a-half years he’s been here and, like I said, he’s not someone we wanted to lose.

“But we have to accept where he’s at and after the work that he’s done to give to Celtic, and his age and where he’s at, we have to accept that.”

Celtic will look to bring in a replacement before the end of the January window but Rodgers admitted losing a key player just after reaching the Champions League play-offs was not the best scenario.

“There’s obviously issues around the timing,” he said. “But we have been aware so it’s not something that has just been sprung on us.

“We understand that we were going to lose him and that we have to replace that quality to keep the team moving forward.

“It’s something that’s been going on in a little while and hopefully we come out of the window with a stronger squad.”

Rodgers also spoke about former Celtic winger Jota, who is poised to make a return from Rennes to the Scottish champions in a separate deal.

Jota was sold to Saudi club Al Ittihad for a club record fee only 18 months ago but had an unhappy time in the Middle East and moved to France, where he is not part of Jorge Sampaoli’s plans.

“It’s not finalised yet”, Rodgers said. “But a player who clearly would be an incredible addition to our squad given what he’s done here before and his qualities.

“Hopefully we can complete that in the next 24 hours.”