Former Celt Yuki Kobayashi joins Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok

Former Celt Yuki Kobayashi has joined Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok. The Japanese defender has signed a three year contract with the Polish outfit, and there’s an option for the club to extend the contact for an additional season…

While most of Ange Postecoglou’s signing from Japan work well out for Celtic – think of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and of course Kyogo Furuhashi – it’s fair to say that Yuki Kobayashi never quite got to grips with the physicality of the Scottish game, something that both Ange and his successor Brendan Rodgers spotted.

Kobayashi made his debut in a 4-0 win over St Mirren shortly after joining the club in December 2022. In total The Japanese defender managed just six appearance for Celtic before joining Portimonense in the summer 2024 transfer window.

Making 25 appearances for the Portuguese second tier outfit, Yuki Kobayashi seemed to find his feet – and maybe his level – and attractive th attention of Jagiellonia Białystok.

The Polish club released a statement on the signing.

“A three-year contract with an option to extend for another year with the Yellow-Reds was signed by Yuki Kobayashi. The Japanese player has moved to our club on a permanent transfer from Portuguese Portimonense. The defender will play with the number 4 on his jersey.”

This appears to be a decent move for Yuki Kobayashi, gaining the security of a longer term contract with his move to Poland.

Jagiellonia Białystok ma nowego zawodnika. Trzyletni kontrakt z opcją przedłużenia o kolejny rok z Żółto-Czerwonymi podpisał Yuki Kobayashi. Japończyk przeniósł się do naszego klubu na zasadach transferu definitywnego z portugalskiego @PortimonenseSAD. Stoper będzie występował z… pic.twitter.com/ws5RhxTP42

— Jagiellonia Białystok (@Jagiellonia1920) July 3, 2025

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