The Celtic board deserve a lot of credit for how much they have backed Ange Postecoglou, since his appointment as the manager of the club. When the Australian arrived in Glasgow, he was pretty much an unknown in European football and most fans were uncertain about him. Yet, the club showed faith in him from the very beginning and are reaping the rewards now.
Celtic won a Premiership and League Cup double last season, and are leading the league title race by nine points this time around.
That has not stopped the Hoops from strengthening their squad further. They have already signed Yuki Kobayashi and Alistair Johnston, weeks before the transfer window has even opened and now might be closing in on another signing as well.
As tweeted out by Fraser Fletcher, Celtic is closing in on signing Tomoki Iwata from Yokohama F. Marinos and the move for the midfielder is expected to be announced soon.
Celtic closing in on another signing and announcement expected soon
Of course, if Celtic are able to get this deal over the line then it would represent their sixth signing from the J League. In the past, they have brought in Kyogo, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Kobayashi.
Out of those five signings, Ideguchi is the only one who has struggled to make an impact at Celtic while we are yet to see Kobayashi in action as he is only going to be eligible to start playing for the Hoops competitively from January.
Let’s see what the future holds but Iwata could be an excellent signing for the Hoops. He played a major role as Yokohama F. Marinos won the league title this season and was named the J League MVP for his efforts. Also, having joined the club during the time of Postecoglou as manager, the two have worked together in the past, which is a bonus.