Celtic earned a lot of plaudits for the signings they made during the time of Ange Postecoglou as the manager of the club and rightfully so, the results were on the pitch. The club overcame difficult circumstances to win five trophies in just two seasons. That is very impressive to say the least. But that does not mean that every move was a success.
On the contrary, Celtic's transfers during Postecoglou's second season at Parkhead were disappointing. The only two players who made an impression were Aaron Mooy, who retired at the end of the season, and Alistair Johnston, who replaced Josip Juranovic in the starting XI.
One signing from last season who did not manage to make his mark at Celtic Park is Yuki Kobayashi. The Japanese centre-back is still at the club but has not played a single minute of football this season under the management of Brendan Rodgers.
He had gotten some chances last season but did not really impress. By the end of the campaign, Tomoki Iwata had moved ahead of him in Postecoglou's centre-back pecking order even though he was signed to play primarily in midfield.
Celtic player set for exit with several J-League clubs interested
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Kobayashi is set to exit. The Japanese defender is wanted by several J.League clubs.
Kobayashi was a standout at Vissel Kobe before joining Celtic. But it has quite clearly not worked out for him in Glasgow.
Kobayashi does not seem to be a part of Rodgers' plans at the moment and it would make sense for all parties involved to part ways. Let's see if that end up happening in the upcoming January transfer window or not.
He is not the only centre-back who could be leaving Celtic next month. Nat Phillips seems headed back to Liverpool as well while there are question marks over Gustaf Lagerbielke's future.