Sign up here to receive an article like this straight to your inbox every weekday, the day BEFORE it appears on the Celtic Way website!

Since his arrival in 2021, Kyogo Furuhashi has been a talismanic figure for Celtic.

The Japan international, signed from J1 League side Vissel Kobe, was Ange Postecoglou’s first foray into the Asian market, following his own move from fellow Japanese side Yokohama F Marinos. After the Australian’s departure this summer, however, there were doubts over Kyogo's future.

Thankfully, Celtic put an end to all of that speculation on Tuesday morning, following the announcement of a new four-year deal for the reigning PFA Player of the Year.

Kyogo’s importance to Celtic cannot be understated. 54 goals in 83 games is the prime example of that. A big-game player, the striker tends to feed off of the big occasions. High-profile strikes against the likes of Rangers – both in league and cup competitions – have made him a fearsome prospect for opposition teams.

The reputation he has against the Ibrox side – coupled with the goals in other big matches such as the Scottish and League Cup finals against Hibernian and Inverness Caledonian Thistle – solidifies Kyogo as Scotland's optimum target man in the process.

Now signed until the summer of 2027, Kyogo has pledged his long-term future to the club under returning manager Brendan Rodgers.

Looking specifically at StatsBomb data, Kyogo’s metrics make for good reading. Over the course of the 2021-22 season and the last campaign, the striker averaged 0.77 and 0.65 xG per game, ranking him in the 99th and 98th percentile, respectively. There is a caveat that Kyogo played significantly fewer minutes in his debut season, in turn potentially skewing the data as a result.

Despite this drop in xG in year two, Kyogo scored more goals. During his first season at the club, he netted 20 times in 33 appearances. A great return, especially considering he was out injured for over three months with a hamstring injury in the middle of the season.

His second season was far more productive in terms of goalscoring, however, with Kyogo available a lot more as he escaped any major injuries. The striker played a total of 50 games, scoring 34 times in the process, as he helped the Hoops to an eighth domestic treble.

READ MORE: Celtic's transfer strategy is vital for keeping pace with elite teams

This increased goal return is reflected in the number of shots Kyogo manages to take each game, which has increased over his time at the club. In his first season, he took 3.11 shots, increasing to 3.23 in his second and moving him from the 88th to the 90th percentile for strikers.

Perhaps one of the most impressive improvements to Kyogo’s game has been the work he manages to do off the ball. There are sustained periods during a match where he will not be involved in the play and, therefore, will have to pressure the opponents into making a mistake.

This is reflected in his pressure regains metric, which has also seen an improvement over the course of his Celtic career. In his first season, Kyogo managed 1.91 pressure regains per game, a figure that ranked him a lowly 46th in striker percentiles for this particular metric.

However, there was a marked improvement in his second year, as he completed 2.49 pressure regains per 90 minutes, moving him up 29 places to the 75th percentile. A good improvement, but certainly an area the striker can improve on further in the years to come.

In the Scottish Premiership, Kyogo managed 27 goals in just 36 appearances. His expected goals total took from the 88 shots he took in the league was 17.73, meaning he outperformed his average by around 10 in the process, further highlighting his talent at leading the line.

One place where the striker could improve in his forward play in the Champions League. When looking at the shot map based on the chances that came his way in Europe’s elite competition, he simply has to do better. His 11 shots in the Champions League last year accumulated a score of just 1.57, with Kyogo yet to break his goalscoring duck in the competition.

When it comes to European competition, however, Celtic’s main goalscorer has shown that he is able to operate, albeit at a slightly lesser level. In the 2021-22 Europa League campaign, Kyogo scored five goals from an expected goals accumulation of 3.52 based on his shot selection.

Scoring goals against teams such as AZ Alkmaar and Ferencvaros show that he is capable of making the step up to a European level, though he will have to improve again at for Rodgers' men to prosper in the Champions League.

READ MORE: Why Celtic is now a top destination for highly-rated young players

Despite his shortcomings so far at the top table of European football, Kyogo is undoubtedly a real talent and comfortably the best striker in Scotland. It is up to the forward now to prove that he can mix it with the big guns at the highest level. Thankfully for Celtic's sake, if Kyogo does improve further then it will be in Glasgow rather than the English Premier League or elsewhere further afield. Jota may have left, but Celtic’s top goal-getter is firmly here to stay.

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

To receive our full, free newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox the day BEFORE it appears on the website, click here and tick the box for The Celtic Digest