Celtic’s win over FK Jablonec showcased both the improvements under Ange Postecoglou but also the work that still needs to be done, especially along the backline. Carl Starfelt looks an assured signing but until he is given a capable defensive partner, the defence will continue to leak poor goals.
Starfelt, a £4.5m acquisition from Rubin Kazan, made some clever blocks whilst also passing the ball out from the back. Although both goals emphasised that Nir Bitton and Anthony Ralston are not good enough to be regularly deployed in Celtic’s first team.
One player that has been linked is Manchester City’s Ko Itakura. The Express states that the Olympic Games in Tokyo have slowed any transfer movement but City expect to offload Itakura. The 24-year-old was part of the Japanese Olympic side that were defeated in today’s Bronze Medal match against Mexico, meaning that he will soon return to the UK. Itakura came on after 70 mins as the Japanese Olympic team fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Mexico beat Japan to win bronze in men's Olympic football https://t.co/CevHcsFnjD #olympics
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) August 6, 2021
The player will likely now return to Manchester for pre-season but it does not look as if he will be in the City plans for the next year. The signing of Jack Grealish yesterday for £100m may mean that the English Champions could look to balance their books with a number of fringe players being sent to the exit. Itakura has one year remaining on his deal with City and following an impressive season in the Netherlands, Celtic would do well to sign the central defender on either a loan or permanent transfer.
Itakura would be available for a cut-price deal if we pursued a permanent transfer given his contract status and it would be interesting to see if Celtic utilise the unofficial City link in order to sign the player. City appears to want a substantial loan fee in lieu of a transfer fee at the end of the spell as the player will be free to contract as of January.
Christopher Jullien’s season looks not to begin until November meaning that Celtic need to get a short term replacement in during the window. Itakura would, as a result, offer a fix to the defensive issues whilst also meeting Ange’s criteria of being able on the ball.
