Celtic have been linked with an interest in Kaoru Mitoma and Ao Tanaka following the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as manager.
The Australian has a massive rebuilding job on his hands with Celtic just 40 days away from a Champions League qualifier against Rapid Vienna, Galatasaray or Midtjylland.
Every position in the team requires strengthening with a lack of clarity over who will be involved in recruitment and making the final decisions.
After three seasons in Japan it is natural that Celtic will be linked with players from the J League but with Mitoma and Tanika involved in the Olympics they won’t be available for transfer until well into August.
The Daily Record reports:
Postecoglou has already been linked with players from the J-League, where he managed Yokohama F. Marinos until this week and two Japanese players from their Olympic squad have officially registered with superagent Don Nomura, who usually specialises in taking Japanese baseball players to the USA, but has now branched out into football.
Kawasaki Frontale winger Kaoru Mitoma, 24, and defensive midfielder teammate Ao Tanaka, 22, are both with the Japanese squad preparing for the Olympics football tournament.
Both are highly rated in their homeland and both have registered with the agent to make a transfer abroad, which needs to be done in Japan to try and secure a move to Europe.
Japanese media have speculated that Postecoglou has already earmarked them both for a move to Scotland as he looks to add to his depleted squad.
Nomura said: “Both players have said they want to go abroad and we will try and do that after the Olympics. It can be difficult to secure a move, but I have a track record in making transfers happen.”
Do you think Ange Postecoglou will win the 21/22 SPFL Premiership title?
Yes, I'm all in, the bounce back is underway
No, Ange is walking into a club in turmoil
So far Scott Brown is the only player to have left Celtic but there are strong stories linking clubs with Kris Ajer and Odsonne Edouard.
Celtic do have more than a dozen players returning from being out on loan last season but it seems more likely that Luca Connell or Ewan Henderson will be given a chance to impress the new boss than Project Signings like Vakoun Bayo or Marian Shved.
