‘Alerted clubs’ – Hayato Inamura decision made despite only signing for Celtic this summer

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Brendan Rodgers has made a decision regarding Celtic defender Hayato Inamura.

Inamura was signed in the summer from Albirex Niigata for just £250k and impressed in a number of friendly matches in pre-season, particularly against Cork City.

The left-sided defender started in the 3-0 win over Livingston on Saturday and fans were happy to see him perform well as part of a new-look backline.

But Rodgers left him out of the Champions League play-off squad and said he isn’t ready at that level yet. And it’s now clear the Celtic manager doesn’t want him at all this season.

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Inamura has been loan listed by Celtic

That’s because the Daily Record are reporting that Inamura has been loan listed by Celtic with just days of the transfer window left.

The outlet’s journalist Scott Burns claims the Hoops have alerted other clubs on TransferRoom of the 23-year-old’s availability.

It is unclear where Inamura will end up, and it’s obviously not even certain if Celtic will find a temporary club for him this season – but that is the plan.

Initial Brendan Rodgers plan put into action

When Inamura was signed, Celtic fans were pleased that the club seemingly found a centre-back who could also support Kieran Tierney at left-back.

But Rodgers quickly confirmed that Inamura wasn’t going to be in his first-team plans for this season.

Inamura impressed in pre-season and that did pleasantly surprise Rodgers, but it clearly wasn’t enough for him to be totally convinced.

Rodgers said after leaving Inamura out of the Champions League play-off squad vs Kairat Almaty: “He’s not quite at the level, as of yet, that I would expect.

“The plan for Ina was to come in and train and see where he was at, with the possibility of going out on loan because he’s only had a year’s football.”