Celtic completed their sixth summer signing on Friday evening.
Not too long after the news that Nicolas Kuhn’s €20m move to Como was agreed, the Hoops announced defender Hayato Inamura.
Inamura has signed from Japanese side Albirex Niigata on a four-year deal and the fee is believed to be around £250k.
Inamura is ‘truly excited’ to sign for Celtic, but Brendan Rodgers has stressed the 23-year-old is one for the future.
Maeda sends reassuring message to Albirex Niigata
Celtic beat Queen’s Park in a friendly just after Inamura’s announcement, and the defender was present at the 1-0 victory in Mount Florida.
He is now the third Japanese player in the Celtic squad along with Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda, with the latter welcoming him to the club on Instagram.
Maeda took a picture of Inamura inside the Queen’s Park away dressing room and captioned it with the message: “Dear Niigata!!! He’s fine.”
Inamura idolised Celtic great Shunsuke Nakamura
Inamura spoke to Celtic TV after his move was made official and he made it clear why he wanted to wear the No.25 jersey for the Hoops.
“The reason why I chose 25 is because out of the options I was given, that one really stood out to me.
“Then obviously regarding (Shunsuke) Nakamura, I used to imitate his kicking style when I was a kid. He was one of my favourite players.”
Let’s hope over time, Inamura can have as great an impact as the likes of Nakamura, Maeda, Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi in Glasgow.
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