Ko Itakura was could well have been the first of five Japanese players to sign for Celtic under Ange Postecoglou, with the Hoops heavily linked with the left sided central defender in the summer.
In the end the Japanese international, who was playing at the Olympics for Japan as the rumours built, decided upon Bundesliga 2 and a newly relegated Schalke side, to continue his footballing progression, away from parent club and perennial hoarders of football talent Manchester City, this on the back of an impressive loan spell with Groningen in the Dutch top-flight the previous season.
Now Schalke sporting director Rouven Schroeder has admitted, as reported in Daily Record, his club faced stiff competition from Celtic, admitting the Hoops had scouted Itakura for over a year prior to being beaten to the punch by the German club.
“It took a lot of patience to sign him from Manchester City. For example, Celtic had tracked him for a year and were desperate to sign him, but we managed to beat them to it.
“We had to wait and wait and the deal could not be completed until the Olympic football tournament had finished which probably helped us.”
Itakura has been quoted by German publication Bild as saying “I feel good here and want to play for Schalke in the long term,” and it appears there is a £3.7m buy out option attached to the deal. However, it may well be such a permanent transfer could hinge on Schalke being promoted back to the Bundesliga, and there’s nothing guaranteed when it comes to promotion for Schalke.
They currently lie in fifth place in that particular battle, below leaders Werder Bremen and the likes of St Pauli, Hamburg and Darmstadt.
Given this was a player Ange Postecoglou clearly rated highly and Celtic had his on their radar even prior to the manager joining the club in the summer, this could be one to keep an eye on. If Schalke go up, it’s likely Ko Itakura will remain in Germany, however should they fail in their promotion bid, then Celtic may well consider revisiting this one.
And Ko Itakura only has to get in touch with the four Japanese Bhoys already at Celtic to get the lowdown on what it’s like playing football for the Scottish Premiership leaders.
Niall J
