Celtic have confirmed they are heading on a blockbuster pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea - with a host of Parkhead stars set for a homecoming.
The club will enjoy an an initial European training camp, the team will take part in a week-long visit to Japan, with fixtures set to be revealed in the coming days. Reports in Asia suggest that Wolves are among the clubs that the Hoops will face.
Ange Postecoglou will return to the country where he enjoyed success with Yokohama F Marinos at the end of the current campaign - and is on course to claim a Treble as the perfect preparation for the blockbuster summer showdowns. The tour will seen five Japanese players return to their homeland this summer with internationals Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi presenting a box office attraction, while Yuki Kobayashi, Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata will also attract a bumper audience. The additional South Korea leg will see Hyeongyu Oh be welcomed back to his homeland.
Following the announcement, boss Postecoglou said: “We are really looking forward to our summer tour to Japan, and we’re sure it will be hugely successful for the club and excellent preparation for next season.
“Clearly, Celtic has a real, long-standing connection with Japan, through previous visits and players such as Shunsuke Nakamura and, of course, now through our current squad members, so it will be great to visit and really bring this relationship to life.
“As we saw from our brilliant visit to Australia last year, the appetite for Celtic globally is huge and it is right that we maximise these great opportunities and show the world all that is great about our club. We wanted to pay respect to Japanese football so we are delighted to be engaging with the J-League and its clubs.
“Japanese football is on a real upward trajectory at the moment, so we know we will be facing real tests, something which will be great for the team as we go into the challenges of next season.”
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