Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers attempted to explain why Kyogo Furuhashi wanted to quit the club.
The Japanese striker is close to completing a £10 million transfer to French Ligue 1 club Rennes.
He arrived in Brittany on Thursday, and Rodgers said yesterday morning that the deal would be completed within the next 24 hours.
Speaking to the media at Lennoxtown on Friday, the Parkhead manager said that Furuhashi voiced a wish to quit Celtic a few months prior.
“Their careers are short,” Rodgers explained.
“He’s 30 years old now. They seek these new difficulties. He has accomplished so much here at Celtic.
“But at this point in his career, the opportunity to play in one of the top five leagues may have been too good to pass up. But I believe it was just something fresh for him. A new challenge.
“He clearly adored the club. He’s enjoyed everything about being here. However, players’ careers are short. As much as we want to urge them to stay and be here, the moment they wish to relocate and the representatives tell them
If they wish to go, we must do everything we can to benefit the club.
Having scored 104 goals in 165 Celtic games and won eight major accolades during his three-and-a-half-year stay in Glasgow’s east end, the 30-year-old will be remembered as a modern-day great.
He is now all but a Rennes player, with Portuguese winger Jota ready to leave and make an emotional return to Celtic in one of the most dramatic January transfer sagas.
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