Celtic boss gives interesting answer to Yuki Kobayashi question

Reports broke out recently that Celtic had managed to agree a deal with J1 League side, Vissel Kobe, for the signing of Japan youth international, Yuki Kobayashi. The 22-year-old centre-back is one of the most highly-rated youngsters in his country and it would not be a surprise if Ange Postecoglou tried to bring him to Glasgow, having already signed Kyogo, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi, during his time as the manager of the Hoops.

Kobayashi is a left-footed centre-back and that suggests that he would operate beside Cameron Carter-Vickers and compete with Carl Starfelt and Moritz Jenz for a place in the starting XI.

Having a left-footed player in the heart of defence does open up the pitch a lot more. On top of that, Kobayashi has a lot of other qualities that are a good fit for Angeball.

When asked about Celtic closing in on the signing of Kobayashi, Postecoglou had an interesting answer though, not really tackling the subject directly. As reported by Glasgow World, the manager said:

"“We have gone early on the January market haven’t we? It’s just into November, so I’ve a lot of talking about that ahead. As I said before we have a strategy in place which I am really comfortable with in terms of making sure we are always looking to improve our squad and improve the way we do things.“We take away the experiences we have had at Champions League level and domestic level and try to be better and every window gives you that opportunity. “We’ve had some plans in place for January for a while now. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will be able to conclude some of that. The whole idea is to make this squad stronger for the second half of the year.”"

Postecoglou responds to rumours that Celtic are closing in on Kobayashi

So, Postecoglou did not really answer the question but the fact that he did not rule it out immediately, and he is the type of person who would do that, does suggest that there might be something to the Kobayashi rumours after all.

It would make sense for Celtic to go after someone with the attributes of Kobayashi. He is excellent at carrying the ball out of defence and has an eye for a pass. His position is solid as well and he dominates the ball aerially, although it will be interesting to see if that translates to a much more physical league like the Scottish Premiership.

Of course, at 22 years of age, Kobayashi is not the finished article yet, but he is definitely a good enough prospect to go after. Celtic have a pretty good record when it comes to signing players from Japan.