Vissel Kobe defender Yuki Kobayashi WILL join Celtic according to reports in his homeland as Ange Postecoglou looks set to kickstart his January recruitment drive.
The 22-year-old defender looks set to become the fifth player from Japan to fall under the Australian's reign in Glasgow's east end when the winter window opens, with his contract in the J-League now expired following the conclusion of the 2022 league season. It was a fast start to the mid-season window last term at Celtic Park, with Japanese trio Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi all signed and in place by January 1, and the Scottish Premiership champions look to have taken the same approach with Kobayashi.
Japanese outlet Next, based in Kobe, report that a Vissel club representative had little optimism when discussing the prospect of the centre-back staying with the club and penning a new contract. When quizzed on a potential move to Celtic, the unnamed executive offered a blunt response stating: "It's hard to keep him now."
Kobayashi also looks to be getting to know his Celtic teammates online ahead of the potential move. He has followed Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate in the recent days on Instagram with a deal looking increasingly likely.
Postecoglou has remained tight-lipped about the prospect of Kobayashi joining Celtic when put on the spot over a deal earlier this month. The Australian said: "We have a strategy in terms of making sure we are always looking to improve our squad and improve the way we do things.
"Every window gives you that opportunity. We’ve had some plans in place for January for a while now. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will be able to conclude some of that."
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