Yuki Kobayashi is yet another Celtic player clearly not in the future plans of manager Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead.
The Japanese defender was recruited to the Hoops when Ange Postecoglou was boss and made his Scottish Premiership debut exactly one year ago today against St Mirren.
However, it’s safe to say Kobayashi’s tenure at the Hoops has been extremely frustrating. He featured seven times under Postecoglou before the Aussie-Greek hero left for Tottenham Hotspur.
And throughout the 2023/24 campaign, the closest Kobayashi has been to making a single appearance for Celtic was against Rangers in September when he made the bench.
Bar that, Rodgers hasn’t given him any minutes in any competition so just like Gustaf Lagerbielke, for example, Kobayashi’s immediate future surely lies elsewhere.
That’s what the Daily Mail reporter Stephen McGowan wrote at the beginning of January, saying that Kobayashi was set to reunite with former Celtic coach Harry Kewell at Yokohama F. Marinos.
However, the reportage surrounding Kobayashi’s future has now taken a dramatic twist.
Yuki Kobayashi transfer latest
The Daily Record’s Scott Burns is now claiming that while Celtic are seeking to ship out some of their fringe players in the squad, Yuki Kobayashi won’t be one of them.
The report states that the defender is ‘unlikely to exit’ the Hoops this January so it seems his move back to Japan with Kewell is dead in the water.
Kobayashi signed a whopping a five-year deal with Celtic last January and it’s clear a move for him now was necessary for both the club and the individual himself.
The last thing he wants is another six months spent watching Celtic from the stands and dealing with the fact Rodgers will give him zero chance of playing bar a wipeout of injured defenders in the team.
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