Of course, a lot has been made about Wilfried Nancy and his struggles since becoming the manager of Celtic. At the same time though, one cannot overlook the shortcomings of the club's recruitment department, which has played a key role in leaving the squad in the state that it is in today. They have made far too many signings where there did not seem to be a plan in place from the very beginning. Unsurprisingly, things did not work out.
The past summer transfer window was arguably the worst in Celtic's recent history. It was not just about the inability to sign top players. The ones they did bring have not made much of a positive impact either.
The standout signing has perhaps been Benjamin Nygren, and even he has more than enough shortcomings in his game. Most of the summer arrivals have not made much of an impact.
Hayato Inamura is certainly one such player. Initially, the expectation was that he would be sent out on loan. But then he impressed in pre-season and ended up staying on at Parkhead. For no real reason though as he has made just one appearance for Celtic since then and looks set for an exit already.
Celtic close to agreeing deal for Japanese player's exit
According to a report in Japan (via 67 Hail Hail), FC Tokyo are set to reach an agreement with Celtic for Inamura. It will be on a loan deal with an option to buy.
It is curious why Inamura has never really been given a chance at Celtic. He did look pretty good in pre-season, which is why he was not sent out on loan. But now, it looks like he is set to head back to Japan in what has been a confusing saga from the beginning.
It is believed that Celtic had shelled out a transfer fee in the region of £250,000 to sign Inamura from Albirex Niigata. It is hard to imagine that the option to buy would be any higher than that, considering how little he has done since arriving.
In the past, Celtic enjoyed a ton of success bringing in players from the J-League. The difference is, they had Ange Postecoglou at the helm back then and were signing some of Japan's top players like Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata. Right now, they are trying to discover the next gem in Japanese football, and failing to do so.