Celtic defender Yuki Kobayashi has rejected the chance to join HJK Helsinki on a short-term loan. The 23-year-old hasn’t made an appearance this season and it has been expected that he would be moved on to find game time.
According to Football Insider, the Japanese defender flew out to Finland to discuss a move but the short-term loan collapsed and the player returned to Glasgow.
Kobayashi, who hasn’t featured in a Matchday squad since the win over Rangers at Ibrox in September, is still training around the first team.
After arriving from Vissel Kobe, Kobayashi made just seven appearances and appeared increasingly uneasy with the pace and physical nature of Scottish football. It was telling that Ange decided to go with Tomoki Iwata over Kobayashi in the Scottish Cup Final after a poor showing at Ibrox by Kobayashi.
Former Celtic coach Harry Kewell was reportedly monitoring the situation for Kobayashi, with the Australian now at the helm of Yokohama F Marinos. Maybe this will be reignited soon with the J-League transfer window running until the end of March.
