It hasn’t been long since Celtic heralded their new Japanese hero, Kyogo Furuhashi, as a future star at Paradise – and his fellow countryman Ko Itakura could soon be joining him in that bracket, if reports are to be believed.
Celtic have pursued Manchester City defender Itakura for the majority of the summer, with reports suggesting that Ange Postecoglou wanted to take the defender on loan – although their efforts were rebuffed as City required a high loan fee for the 24-year-old.
Itakura, who signed for Pep Guardiola’s side in 2019 following an impressive season at J-League outfit Vegalta Sendai, has yet to play a game in England – although he has impressed at Virgil van Dijk’s old side FC Gronigen in the Dutch Eredivisie for the past two seasons.
In the same mould as Nir Bitton – but hopefully better – Itakura is capable of playing centre-back and defensive midfielder; two positions that Ange Postecoglou needs greater than any other, given the complete lack of defensive options and Ismaila Soro being the only decent defensive midfielder in the squad.
And according to popular Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur, Celtic have started official talks with the Champions League finalists – which adds to their growing list of players to make the switch from the Etihad to Celtic Park, with Patrick Roberts, Scott Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata and Jason Denayer all part of the exclusive list.
🚨🔥#Celtic are interested in Ko #Itakura, which Pep #Guardiola did not consider in the squad.
👥🤝#CelticFC have started official talks with the player and #ManchesterCity. #ManCity pic.twitter.com/M2bogZVzIi
— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) August 11, 2021
Itakura will likely never break into Manchester City’s side given how much they spend – the club are likely to pay a fee of close to £250million for England stars Jack Grealish and Harry Kane this summer, with the latter already joining – and Celtic bosses see the club as the perfect chance for Itakura to continue his development.
Having managed in the J-League before his move to Scotland, Ange Postecoglou will be over the moon with how Kyogo Furuhashi’s life in Glasgow has begun – and hopefully, with the signing of Itakura, there will be double delight to come from the far east Asian country.
