It has been a rather interesting transfer window so far for Celtic.
You can’t deny that Celtic have been busy, with both incomings and outgoings, but perhaps the spark and statement signing fans want hasn’t arrived yet.
One of the main talking points of the 2025 summer transfer window has been ‘needing a striker’ and ‘more goals’ following Kyogo Furuhashi’s exit in January.
A striker has arrived this summer, in the form of Callum Osmand, but he is an unknown prospect, and it seems as though Celtic are going down that road again with the expected arrival of Shin Yamada.
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There is an air of frustration with the Celtic fans because this isn’t a proven striker, and Brendan Rodgers has seemingly hinted that another goalscorer will still come in.
But Scott Allan thinks there is a section of the supporters that has ‘trust’ in what the recruitment team is doing because the Japan market has worked so well for the club.
The former midfielder also added on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that he can see Yamada making a ‘real difference’ to the Celtic side.
“I think it’s a position where a lot of Celtic fans want to see someone come in,” said Allan.
“There was a lot of talk when Kyogo left. In terms of Yamada, this season, he has two goals in 20 games, but in the previous season, he got 19 goals. It will be interesting to see how Brendan Rodgers fits him into this Celtic side.
“Will he be one who is going to affect the game from the bench or one who Rodgers thinks can lead the line?
“It is a market (the Japan league) that Celtic have used to their advantage. Some of the players, Kyogo, Maeda and Hatate. They have all been fantastic.
“I think it’s something we spoke about last season, in the trust, the Celtic fans put into the recruitment team, you would like to think, he is going to come in and be a player who is going to make a real difference in Scotland.”
Yamada’s goalscoring record
At the age of 25, you can’t consider Yamada a project signing like Osmand or a young and inexperienced player.
Therefore, the Japan star’s two goals this season from 20 league matches won’t sit well with the Celtic Park faithful.
What’s encouraging is that Yamada hit better numbers the season before after starting his professional career in 2022.
- Career games: 125
- Goals: 37
- Assists: 9
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