Japan legend Marcus Tanaka believes Kyogo Furuhashi’s performances for Celtic this season should get him more recognition at international level.

The 28-year-old has scored 22 goals in 32 appearances but he was not called up for the World Cup by national team manager Hajime Moriyasu last year. Even so, Tanaka feels the striker could form a formidable frontline if he is selected alongside Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo:

“Furuhashi is a player I want to see playing for Japan moving forward. He is an explosive striker and a very good player – I want him to play. We know he wasn’t taken to Qatar but he is doing extremely well in Scotland.”

“I can’t remember any Japanese player in Europe scoring as many goals as he has by this stage of a season ever. For me, the team should be built around Furuhashi with Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad heavily involved, too.”

It was a massive shock when Kyogo wasn’t included in Japan’s 26-man squad for the World Cup, but the forward has certainly not let the snub affect his form, putting in some fantastic displays over the last few months.

Japan do have a number of outstanding forwards. Mitoma has been catching the eye for Brighton, and he has even been linked with Arsenal, while Kubo has also been impressing in Spain.

However, Kyogo has very much been in a league of his own and he will be hoping for a call up when Japan take on Colombia next month.