News broke out in the Japanese media last night that Celtic had reached an agreement with Vissel Kobe for the transfer of Yuki Kobayashi in January. He is a 22-year-old, left-footed centre-back. Certainly an interesting move on the part of the Hoops, if it does indeed end up going through, and it looks like he could be competing with Carl Starfelt to partner Cameron Carter-Vickers in defence.
It must be pointed out that Starfelt was the regular starter for Celtic last season but has missed a lot of football this time around, having had to deal with a number of injuries, even though he has looked good in the short amount of time that he has been on the pitch.
Kobayashi is a very highly-rated centre-back and has represented Japan at the youth levels, yet it does not look like he is considered as one of the best in the league yet. So, this seems like a very intriguing move on the part of Celtic.
Dan Orlowitz gave an update on the entire Kobayashi to Celtic situation, as he wrote on Twitter:
"So with all that out of the way, looking at the Sponichi report they’re checking off all the boxes:multiple sourcesformal offer madeclubs in agreementplayer himself wants to go overseasAll that’s missing is a medical check. Seems legit at first glance."
Reliable journalist gives update on Kobayashi to Celtic transfer situation
Celtic have had quite the reputation for signing players from the J League since the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager. It is worth pointing out that he used to manage Yokohama F. Marinos before joining the Hoops.
Thus, the manager has used the knowledge of that side of things to great success and brought in players like Reo Hatate, Kyogo and Daizen Maeda.
The only move that has not really worked out is the one for Yosuke Ideguchi, who has made little to no impact in a Celtic shirt till now.
Let’s see if Celtic ultimately end up signing Kobayashi or not. On first glance, he does look like someone who fits Postecoglou’s style of football perfectly and could be an asset to the team.