Celtic are closing in on a move for Japanese midfielder Tomoki Iwata, with his switch to Glasgow ready to be finalised according to Sponichi Annex in his homeland.
Sponichi have previously broken news on Yosuke Ideguchi and Yuki Kobayashi making a move to the Bhoys, lending an air of credibility to the details they have now reported this week.
The outlet believes Iwata will join on an initial loan deal, with a purchase option of around £830,000 – similar to the move for Daizen Maeda from the same club a year ago.
Crucially, they reckon the transfer is destined to go through with the player having already sorted out a work permit to feature for the Bhoys. A medical is now set to be completed to confirm the deal.
Iwata is a tenacious defensive midfielder known well by Postecoglou, having been the manager to sign him for Yokohama F.Marinos in the first place.
With question marks surrounding the future of Yosuke Ideguchi and Oliver Abildgaard, Iwata seems to be the option that Postecoglou feels is best placed to progress at Celtic.
Postecoglou has made a raft of signings from the J-League since joining as Bhoys boss with Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda proving to be particularly influential over the last 18 months.
If Iwata can make that kind of impact, this will undoubtedly be another brilliant bargain sourced by the Bhoys boss.
Having won the J-League player of the year award for 2022, the 25-year-old is well-placed to push on with his career and seek success in Europe.
In other news, “There is a fear element”; Lee Johnson hypes up Celtic ahead of Easter Road match.
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