Recent Celtic signing Tomoki Iwata came into contact with the club’s fan media for the first time yesterday, and impressed.
The signing from Yokohama F. Marinos has already addressed the Celtic Park faithful – speaking in English during half-time of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Kilmarnock.
Speaking through club interpreter Akihito Ido, he offered insight into several topics surrounding his arrival.
In a response to a question from 67 Hail Hail, Iwata revealed that he had first heard of interest from Celtic in the middle of December.
While things can often be lost or misunderstood in translation, it would appear that the signing wasn’t quite as long a process as the arrivals of Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi a year ago.
Iwata also admitted to talking to former F. Marinos team-mate Daizen Maeda prior to the move.
“Yes I have talked to him and asked what to bring here and how is the weather in Scotland.”
He played down fears of him having no break between his spells in Japan and Scotland, saying: “Firstly, I really like football so I am happy to play as much as possible.
“I actually had about three or four weeks of a break in Japan, so I took enough rest to be in a good condition.”
Finally, he answered the most important question on the lips of Celtic supporters: where will he fit in to the team.
While Ange Postecoglou wasn’t drawn in to nailing down a position at Friday’s press-conference, Iwata did suggest he’d feature at the base of the midfield.
“We haven’t talked a lot about my position,” he said. “I think he’s expecting me to play as a number six.”
So to summarise, Iwata first heard from Celtic about a month ago, he is pessimistic about the weather in Scotland, he has had a healthy three or four week break to recharge and he expects to play as a number six.
Now all we have to do is see him play.
In other news, Aiden McGeady reckons Kevin Nisbet is destined for a big move and has named Celtic as one of the potential suitors
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