Daizen Maeda
Another J1 League star who has been linked with Celtic in recent weeks is Daizen Maeda. The rumours first cropped up over a month ago and have been doing the rounds since then. It is not hard to understand why though.
Maeda has been one of the standout players in Japan this season if not the standout player. Despite not being an out-and-out striker, he managed to top the J1 League scoring charts alongside Leandro Damiao.
Maeda has played in Europe before but back then it did not quite work out for him. But following his recent performances, many believe that he is more than ready to make the jump.
Celtic could be the perfect place for him to do that. He has already worked under the management of Ange Postecoglou in the past during their time together at Yokohama F. Marinos and will thus be familiar with his system. Thus, the adjustment would not be expected to be as tough for him as some others if he does make the move.
Yosuke Ideguchi
Ideguchi was considered the next big thing in Japanese football not too long ago. So much so that he broke into the national team set up at a young age and even got himself a move to Leeds United.
Things did not quite go to plan after that though. He did not even make a single appearance for the English side and instead spent loan spells in Germany and Spain, where he did not find much success either.
Thus, the move appeared to stall his development. Since then, he has returned to Japan and found his feet again at Gamba Osaka.
Recently though, rumours have emerged again regarding a possible move to Europe, this time with Celtic. Could he succeed the second time around, if the move does end up happening?