Ex-Celtic player Charlie Nicholas has singled out Kyogo Furuhashi for special praise after his excellent start to life at Parkhead.

Nicholas was in the stands as the Hoops won 2-0 against St Johnstone at the weekend, watching some of the club’s summer signings in the flesh for the first time.

While he felt Furuhashi was quiet on the right wing on Sunday, he believes the Japanese international will be vitally important for the Scottish club going forward. He also ran the rule over Jota, Liel Abada and Giorgos Giokoumakis:

“Jota is capturing the imagination just now but Kyogo Furuhashi is the key, even though he played on the right at the weekend. He never got into the game but he is better more centrally. Liel Abada started well at Celtic but has tailed away, Tom Rogic has come back into form and Giorgos Giakoumakis’s first steps look encouraging.”

It does seem as though things are falling into place under manager Ange Postecoglou. Summer signings are beginning to gel whilst players are slowly coming back from injury.

Nicholas says he is now more convinced that Celtic can challenge Rangers for the Scottish Premiership title, even though their Glasgow rivals are still favourites in his eyes. We shall see how things pan out over the coming months.