The real reason Tomoki Iwata left Celtic to join Birmingham City, what ‘convinced’ Chris Davies

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Tomoki Iwata was an enigma at Celtic.

Arriving at Celtic in 2022 after being named Japan’s MVP, Iwata never really could break into Ange Postecoglou’s first team.

Iwata was already a Japan international with four caps to his name and appeared to be the next big player for Hajime Moriyasu when he got his big Celtic move.

However, with Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor, Aaron Mooy and Matt O’Riley all competing with Iwata for a place in Celtic’s first-team squad, the former Yokohama F Marinos star found himself on the bench more than the Parkhead turf.

One year on after Iwata left Celtic for Birmingham, the 28-year-old midfielder has lifted the lid on why he quit Parkhead for the third tier of English football.

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What made Tomoki Iwata ‘immediately’ pack his bags to leave Celtic for Birmingham

Iwata has seriously impressed Birmingham fans since he arrived at the now English Championship side after helping them gain promotion from League One last season.

And now almost one year on, Iwata has explained why he didn’t have ‘any negative feelings’ about swapping the Celtic bench for the English third tier.

Iwata told Soccer Digest Web, “Birmingham made me an offer right at the start of the off-season and waited patiently until 31 August, the last day of the transfer window.

“I was determined to go if they thought so much of me, so I immediately packed my bags and headed for a new place.

“I didn’t have any negative feelings about being in the third division, I wanted to show my family how hard I was working, that was my main driving force at that time.”

Chris Davies sold Birmingham dream to ex-Celtic man Tomoki Iwata

Leaving a club the size of Celtic for any other team in Europe would be difficult at the best of times, but to make the switch to England’s League One really was something else.

And here, Iwata shares the dream former Celtic coach and now Birmingham manager Chris Davies sold the former Japan MVP.

Iwata continued, “It was also significant that the manager, Chris Davies, was someone who had previously coached at Celtic, Rodgers’ first team, and most recently under Ange at Tottenham.

“I felt comfortable going there because the two managers had heard about me and were convinced that I could ‘work with them’ and made me an offer.

“I was also moved by the fact that Birmingham was in a similar situation to Oita Trinita, where I grew up, when they went down to J3.

“It was a big club that was originally in the Premier Division, but they had dropped down to the third tier and were trying to climb back up. He said to me, ‘I want to go to the Premier League with you’, and I remembered those days when we went up through J2 and J1.”

Iwata is potentially less than 12 months away from becoming a Premier League player at Birmingham.

If the former Celtic midfielder can achieve Davies’ dream then it really would be another incredible chapter in the Japanese man’s already impressive story.