Celtic’s new signing Tomoki Iwata arrives with a great reputation. He was named Player of the Season in Japan’s top flight last term and was a stand out performer in the midfield when he worked under Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F Marinos. Ahead of linking up with the Celtic boss again, the Japanese star spoke to the club’s TV channel. During the interview, he outlined his European ambitions for next season and beyond.
Iwata told Celtic TV: “I’m really honoured and I’m really happy to be at a great club such as Celtic and I am just excited. I felt the passion of the supporters. Compared with Japan, the supporters are very passionate and I am really looking forward to playing on that pitch. I would like to give a result to the team and of course become the league champion, and have good results as well in European competition.
“I think at Celtic we can go higher and achieve more in Europe and I would like to contribute to the history of the club.”
Iwata also talked about his relationship with Daizen Maeda and that being a factor in his following the Celtic scores.
With so much domestic dominance since the turn of the century, it’s great to see that new players have their eyes on continental aspirations at Parkhead. It has been almost 20 years since the Hoops last won a knockout tie in European competition, so fans are now keen to see us break that duck and have a run of some sort.
💬 “I think my strong point is stealing the ball and my fitness; I think once I fit into the team I can contribute to achieve more success.”@CelticTV‘s Exclusive first interview with Tomoki Iwata🍀🇯🇵
Watch below on YouTube ⤵
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) January 9, 2023
A proper number 6 HJ