Ange Postecoglou has given his reaction to the first piece of transfer business for the next transfer window having been completed and officially announced today.
Yuki Kobayashi signed a five year contract with Celtic, joining the club from J-League club Vissel Kobe, and the 22 year old left sided central defender is clearly delighted at getting the move to join up with Ange Postecoglou and the four Japanese players already at Celtic.
Speaking to the official Celtic website from his home back in Melbourne, where he is currently enjoying a week’s busman’s holiday, the Celtic manager had this to say about signing Yuki Kobayashi.
“We’re really pleased. Yuki is someone that we’ve been following for a while and it was a great opportunity to bring him in. He’s a left-sided centre-back, and they’re hard to find.
“He’s still young but he’s already had three of four years of senior experience and he’s really keen to come across and test himself in Europe.
“I think we saw last year that bringing in guys nice and early gives us the opportunity to bed them in, in that six-month period of the second half of the season, and we’re really looking forward to having him as part of the group.
“He’s at a really good age where he’s already had some great experience but with great potential ahead of him.
“He’s a good young man who wants to have a real crack at it here in Europe and for us it’s a great opportunity to invest in a young player again.”
Yuki will be able to join up with his new Celtic team mates from 1 December, 2022 and will be eligible to play competitively once the registration window opens in January 2023. Celtic are heading over to Portugal for a week’s training ahead of the match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday 17 December.
While in Portugal Celtic all also play a friendly match against French side, Stade Rennais who incidentally have been drawn against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League knock-out rounds.
Ange's January transfer window starts in November!
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