As Celtic stretched their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 12 points this afternoon, the supporters managed to catch a glimpse of newest addition, Tomoki Iwata. The Japanese midfielder has signed on with the Hoops initially on a loan deal with an obligation to buy come the end of the season.
Celtic had a similar deal in place when they signed Japan World Cup star, Daizen Maeda and that worked out well for all parties involved. Ange and his backroom staff will be hoping that Iwata can have an identical impact as his countrymen when they arrived on these shores in the January of 2022.
The Bhoys are reported to be ready to cut ties with Danish midfielder, Oliver Abildgaard with game time limited for the big man since his move from Russian side Rubin Kazan in the summer transfer window. It now looks likely that he will be looking for a fresh challenge after failing to force his way into the manager’s plans and Ange has brought in Iwata to improve that part of the squad.
After becoming integral to Postecoglou’s old side, Yokohama F. Marinos and becoming the MVP on their march to the J-League title, Iwata has been snapped up just like Yuki Kobayashi and will hopefully provide the defence that cover it needs at times moving forward. There is a lot of optimism over this one and we all can’t wait to see the player in action.
Celtic paraded the Asian import in front of the home support this afternoon in their match against Kilmarnock. The Celts ran out 2-0 winners in the end but it could have been more had it not been for a very good goalkeeping display from the man between the sticks for Killie today. Tomoki will be hoping that he can get amongst the action as soon as possible as we charge towards another League title.
Paul Gillespie
