Brendan Rodgers hinted last night that he is willing to retain Kyogo Furuhashi despite interest from MLS's Atlanta United after the Japanese striker scored twice to lead Celtic to a 4-1 away win at Ross County.
Furuhashi opened the scoring at Dingwall and then made it 2-1 with his 12th goal of the season with nine minutes left after Jordan White equalized from the penalty spot.
An Arne Engels penalty and a Luke McCowan strike in added time gave the scoreboard a hammer-blow look, but Furuhashi's goals were vital and Rodgers paid tribute to his performance in the intervening time.
Asked specifically if he wanted to keep the player, the Parkhead manager replied: “Yes, all the players,” he said. 'We want to improve the squad and develop it.
Even his goals today, that's what it's all about: great runs, getting around the box and finishing.”
With Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn absent, Furuhashi was also asked to come on from a right-sided position against County with Adam Idah operating as a centre-forward.
Rodgers praises Furuhashi at full-time after striker's brace helps Celtic win
Furuhashi forces a save from County goalkeeper Jordan Amissah
“I thought Kyogo worked very well,” Rodgers said. “I think you have to remember that he was a winger when he played in Japan, that's what he was. He came to the club as a winger.
“We have two scorers out of the team, trying to bring in scorers and find a way to be flexible to allow him to do that. I thought he, Arne and Ali did very well on that side of the pitch.”
Midfielder Arne Engels also highlighted Furuhashi's importance to the cause.
“It's very important for us,” said the Belgian midfielder. “He's doing all the dirty work that some people don't see, but we do, so we know how important he is to us.”
'You see it again today. He has scored those two goals and maybe he could even score more, but it is very important for us.
'Kyogo did incredible, but he has already been very, very good. “He is putting in all his work and he really deserves those goals.”
Celtic had to overcome difficult conditions to beat County thanks to temperatures dropping to -8 degrees before kick-off.
Rodgers admits that he took advantage of the fact that fans filled the away stadium despite the weather to motivate his team.
As I told the boys today before the game, there are many reasons why we want to win,” he revealed. 'But I know a group of supporters who got on a boat at 3:30 in the morning to cross and then drive so far.
“They were going to stand out in the freezing cold and watch a game and I said, 'That's commitment.' At the very least, we have to match that commitment.
However, Furuhashi would not be denied, and finally broke the deadlock.
'I think it's that resilience that the team has. You will always find a way. The players did exceptionally well.
“It was very cold, the course was very bumpy and lively, but we found a way.” Even in the most difficult conditions, technically the players were very strong.”
Meanwhile, Engels believes the way the team achieved victory was simply “unbelievable.”
“We knew the field wasn't going to be really good, so we were clear that it wasn't going to be a really nice game to play,” he said.
“I think the boys did incredible and you can see that even on the bad field we can play football.”
Engels has received a degree of criticism since arriving from German side Augsburg in an £11 million move, but Rodgers, having seen him make it 3-1 with his second attempt from the penalty spot after the Home goalkeeper Jordan Amissah had moved on too soon. By saving the first, he is happy with his level of performance.
“I think you can see the confidence in him now and the happiness with which he plays,” Rodgers said. “He's playing with authority, which is what you have to do.” “He's been in great form, with great consistency and he just has to keep it up.”
Celtic's star striker headed in the second goal to regain his team's lead over County.
Engels is also keen to build on a performance that saw a goal and a key assist for Furuhashi's second.
“I always want to be an important player,” he said. “But as always, when you arrive at a new club, you need to adapt a little, know all the tactics, know everything you need to do and do a lot of analysis after the games, after each training session.” .
“I think everything is working now and I think I'm in a good place. I still want to improve a lot.”
Meanwhile, Ross County boss Don Cowie felt the end result was extremely harsh on his part.
“I'm really frustrated, disappointed for the group in terms of being tied with 10 minutes left and for the score to end the way it did,” he said.
'I think it's hard. It's especially hard on Jordan (Amissah), in terms of the way he acted and the way the rest of the group put their bodies on the line.
“I don't think they deserved it in terms of the effort they put in.”