Delighted Ange Postecoglou welcomes three Japanese signings to Celtic

Almost unbelievably, Celtic have announced the signing of THREE new players from Japan who will all be registered with the club in early January, subject to the usual conditions and international clearance.

No Celtic fans who have been following this story will be surprised the three players are Daizen Maeda from Yokohama F. Marinos, Yosuke Ideguchi from Gamba Osaka and Reo Hatate from Kawasaki Frontale. What is surprising is that we have managed to announce all three at once and the timing of the announcement. It feels like the first time Celtic have been on the ball transfer wise in a long long time. New chief executive Michael Nicholson will certainly come out of this looking well after a rocky start in the eyes of the Celtic faithful.

It is hoped all players will be joining up with the Celtic squad across the next few days.

A delighted Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou, said according to the official Celtic website: “We are really pleased to bring in these guys to Celtic and I think they are players who will excite our fans.

“Clearly I am well aware of their attributes and I think in bringing all three to the club we are bringing even more quality, personality and energy to the squad to work with the players who have done so well for us already this season.

“They are all really at the peak of their careers, ambitious to achieve more success and I am sure at this particular time we will be getting their best years. I am delighted to have secured these players so early in the transfer window, I look forward to working with them and myself, my backroom team and the rest of the squad will be making sure we help them settle into Celtic as quickly as possible.”

I think it goes without saying that all Celtic fans join Ange and the club in welcoming these new players to the club. What a start to the new year!

Conall McGinty