Former Barca and Ateltico Madrid man David Villa has been praising his former teammate Kyogo Furuhashi for his impact at Celtic.

The pair played together at Vissel Kobe in the J-League before Villa retired from football and the Spaniard is watching the wee man from afar in Glasgow.

As cited by RecordSport Villa said: “I am very happy that Kyogo Furuhashi has been a success at Celtic.

“It was important for him and other Japanese players to go overseas and experience a different style of football and lifestyle and learn new languages.

“His game has improved a lot already.

“I definitely believe it’s possible that Japan will win the World Cup one day. I think the Japanese football authorities deserve great credit because they have got an environment now where they are producing top players.

“As well as Kyogo, Japan has younger guys like Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kubo who are going to be great players.

“Perhaps Japan lacks a real striker, but many countries have the same problem.

“But certainly when you look at how much Japan are improving, it won’t be too long before they can be World Cup contenders.”

Kyogo’s impact in the first half of the season was incredible. So many fans were wondering what would happen to this team if you took Edouard out of it. Kyogo took the torch and ran with it.

An unfortunate injury put the wee man on the sidelines for over three months and has recently returned to the matchday squad. Celtic fans are hoping Kyogo picks up where he left off back in December. His last two goals for the club sealed a famous League Cup victory for Ange Postecoglou at Hampden.

In his Absence, so many of Kyogo’s teammates have stepped up to fill the void. Giakoumakis has been instrumental in Celtic pushing forward in the league. The last time Kyogo started for Celtic, we were six points behind in the title race. When he made his reappearance against St Johnstone we were six in front.

Villa is delighted to see kyogo develop and move on from Japan and Celtic fans are also delighted he made the move.

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