The dreaded international break has robbed Celtic of their best player for at least a month.
Scotland may have secured a historic victory against Austria to boost their World Cup hopes but the Hoops will be reeling from a seismic injury blow.
Kyogo Furuhashi was substituted after just 50 minutes of Japan’s clash with China a few days ago after he went down holding his knee.
The severity of the situation wasn’t revealed until Friday morning when The Scottish Sun claimed that he’ll miss at least the next month of action.
That means that Kyogo will be absent for seven matches, including the start of the Europa League group stage.
He will also have to sit on the sidelines when the Premiership returns this weekend. Celtic are due to face Ross County but they will now have to do so without their best player from the 2021/22 campaign so far.
It was always going to take a special player to replace Odsonne Edouard’s goals in this Celtic side but Furuhashi has already achieved that in the space of a few weeks.
The diminutive attacker scored a hat-trick on his Parkhead debut and has seven goals to his name in just nine appearances for the Bhoys.
He has been a breath of fresh air for Ange Postecoglou’s side and has hit the ground running in devastating fashion.
Kyogo arrived as the J-League’s top scorer and he has shown exactly why in just a matter of weeks.
He has become a fan favourite overnight and not only will Postecoglou be gutted by his injury, but supporters may be extremely anxious about how the team will perform without him leading the line.
Celtic did acquire Giorgos Giakoumakis on transfer deadline day but it remains to be seen whether he’s a one-season wonder.
The Greek scored 29 goals for VVV-Venlo last term but his prior best in a single campaign before that had been just 12. As for Albian Ajeti, he has only scored six goals since arriving from West Ham a year ago.
Playing the Swiss forward would be a gamble but at least they still have a feared scorer in their ranks despite Kyogo’s fitness concerns.