Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Manchester City have not contacted striker Kyogo Furuhashi and that he has not spoken to the striker about the ‘gossip’.

According to recent reports, the 29-year-old Japan international is on a shortlist of potential candidates for the English champions as they consider replacing Julian Alvarez.

Kyogo, who has scored 51 goals since joining Glasgow in the summer of 2021, will return for Sunday’s visit to St Mirren after missing last week’s Scottish League Cup victory over Hibernian with a recurring shoulder injury.

“Of course it comes and we just deal with it,” Rodgers said of the media speculation. “But there’s nothing from Man City. It’s clearly rumours and gossip.

“I haven’t spoken to him directly about that. If I were to talk to every player about gossip and speculation, I would be busy 24 hours a day.

“I’m not interested. I’m just focused on Celtic and getting the team ready for the game at the weekend.

“The most important thing for me is that he feels comfortable on the grass again now. He has trained fantastically in the last few days and he will be available for the weekend.”