Erling Haaland marked his 100th Manchester City appearance with his 91st goal for the club in last weekend's opening 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Premier League.
Nevertheless, it seems Pep Guardiola still wants to bring in some attacking reinforcements ahead of the transfer deadline as City chase a record-extending fifth successive English title.
Julian Alvarez's €95 million ($103.7m) departure to Atletico Madrid, combined with young winger Oscar Bobb suffering a fractured leg, has left Guardiola a little light in his forward line.
"Maybe in other years I said, 'No chance' [of new signings], but maybe this season it is going to happen until the end of the market," the City manager said earlier in August. "I don't know yet, we have to talk and see what happens."
As the end of that market looms, a surprise name has emerged as a target. So, why exactly do City want to bring in Kyogo Furuhashi from Celtic?
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Why do Man City want to sign Kyogo Furuhashi?
According to a report by The Athletic, City are ready to make their move for Celtic and Japan striker Kyogo Furuhashi before the end of the August window.
The 29-year-old has been a prolific presence at Parkhead since joining from Vissel Kobe in 2021, with 73 goals in 135 games in all competitions for the club.
Two factors in that transfer are significant when it comes to the reasons for him being on City's radar. Kyogo was signed by Ange Postecoglou, who took charge of Celtic after a successful spell in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos — the J1 League club in which the City Football Group hold a stake.
At Vissel Kobe, Kyogo played under Guardiola's current assistant and long-time mentor Juanma Lillo.
There will certainly be plenty of detailed reports to call upon at the City Football Academy and Kyogo's lethal finishing ability but lack of a significant profile means he could be an ideal candidate to play second fiddle to Haaland in a way that Alvarez — a rising star and World Cup winner with Argentina — no longer was.
After the win over Chelsea, Haaland spoke of being "pain free" for the first time in a long time. If Kyogo joins City, it is highly unlikely he would be preferred to the Norway superstar for the biggest games, but the capacity to manage Haaland's workload in a season featuring expanded UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup commitments could be significant.
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Kyogo Furuhashi shoulder injury
One aspect that could cause consternation among City fans are Kyogo's persistent shoulder problems.
He missed Celtic's win over Hibernian on August 18 with the complaint and Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers revealed the player could opt to have an operation.
"He could have surgery on it, but that probably takes him out for about four months," Rodgers said. "It's only him that can decide that, because you can see that a lot of times, he gets through games fine. But it's something he's managed for a long period, much longer than he's been at Celtic.
"I decided to give him the time today. We could've had him back into the game, but I gave him time to miss it and rest and I'll speak to him tomorrow."
The Premier League champions sniffing around makes a compelling case for Kyogo putting the operation on the backburner once again.
Kyogo Furuhashi career stats, goals scored
| Games | Goals | Assists | |
| FC Gifu (2017 - 2018) | 71 | 17 | 18 |
| Vissel Kobe (2018 - 2021) | 111 | 49 | 18 |
| Celtic (2021 - ) | 135 | 73 | 16 |
Kyogo has been prolific throughout his club career, with seven goals in 14 Old Firm derbies against Rangers winning him an eternal place in the affections of Celtic fans.
Questions remain over his elite credentials, with 12 UEFA Champions League games for Celtic yielding only two goals. Kyogo has five goals in 21 appearances for Japan and was left out of his country's squad for the 2022 World Cup.