Celtic already had a pretty strong defence with four options at centre-back in the form of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt, Stephen Welsh and Moritz Jenz, who is currently on loan from Lorient. Yet, the club have wasted no time in going out and bringing in Yuki Kobayashi, who will be vying for one of the central defensive spots in Ange Postecoglou’s team.
Kobayashi will be coming in after a spell at Vissel Kobe, where he had managed to establish himself as a starter. Despite being 22 years of age, the Japanese player already has quite a bit of experience in the bank.
Kobayashi will also be adding a fresh dimension to the Celtic defence though, as he is a left-footed centre-back, who plays on the left-side of the defensive duo naturally.
While talking on Celtic’s official website about the decision to sign Kobayashi, Postecoglou said:
"“Yuki is someone that we’ve been following for a while and it was a great opportunity to bring him in. He’s a left-sided centre-back, and they’re hard to find.”"
Postecoglou explains big reason why Celtic have signed Kobayashi
It has felt like Postecoglou has been in search of a left-footed centre-back for a while and now, he has managed to find one in the form of Kobayashi.
The Japanese star’s arrival does open up a lot of new tactical options for the manager and it will be interesting to see how these are implemented moving forward.
Of course, the most important thing in this regard will be how Kobayashi adjusts to the Scottish game and his new teammates after arriving in Glasgow.
He certainly has a lot of attributes that can make him a major success in Postecoglou’s system of football. But now, it is about the execution. Let’s see if this move works out for Celtic or not in the long run.
Kobayashi will be eligible to play for Celtic from January but he is free to join up with his new teammates from December itself, which should make his adjustment easier.