During the time of Ange Postecoglou as manager, Celtic found a lot of success signing Japanese players. Daizen Maeda has been their best player this season and Reo Hatate remains a regular starter as well. Both of them have been linked with summer moves. On the other hand, we saw Kyogo Furuhashi leave for Rennes in the winter for a £10 million transfer fee after scoring 85 goals for the Hoops in three-and-a-half seasons.
Even the moves that did not work out for Celtic were pretty decent ones. Tomoki Iwata left for Birmingham City in the summer and has helped them earn promotion to the Championship, while being one of the best players in League One.
So, it is interesting why Celtic do not seem to be keeping an eye out on Japanese talents anymore. They certainly have a lot of great players there and the Hoops might be missing out.
Kota Takai is someone who is drawing a lot of interest. At 20 years of age, he has already made 71 appearances for Kawasaki Frontale, the same club Hatate used to play for.
Celtic must sign elite Japanese centre-back for bargain fee
Udinese are reportedly preparing a €3.1million transfer bid for Takai. Several other clubs are believed to be in the race to sign him as well, including one from the Premier League.
Celtic should make sure that they are keeping an eye on Takai's situation as well. He is a phenomenal centre-back talent who seems to be available for a very reasonable transfer fee.
Some of the numbers that Takai has been putting up are superb. He is 93rd percentile for defensive actions, 93rd percentile for aerial duel %, 90th percentile for forward pass % and 81st percentile for passes completed. The 20-year-old is also first among J1 League centre-backs in pass completion to final third and possessions won - possessions lost.
Takai has showed that he can be part of a winning team, having won silverware for both club and country. That will be important if he wants to play for Celtic.
Takai has won the Japanese Cup and Super Cup with Kawasaki Frontale and the AFC U23 Championship with Japan. Individually, he was named J-League's Best Young Player for 2024. On top of all this, he has represented his national team on a couple of occasions at the senior level already.
So, it is not hard to see that Takai is a special talent and someone who could be a solid signing for Celtic, who seem to be looking for a centre-back heading into the summer. Of course, there would be question marks about how he would adjust to the European game but considering what we have seen from Kyogo, Maeda and Hatate, that would certainly be a risk worth taking.
How many youngsters have Celtic signed in recent years who have only made a handful of appearances? So, why not try to bring in someone who is already a proven winner at the senior level and a full Japan international?