Celtic’s move to sign Tomoki Iwata appears to have taken a step forward overnight.
Ange Postecoglou made a light hearted reference to Santa Clause when he was asked about the Yokohama F Marinos midfielder.
The J-League has proven to be a favoured market for the Celtic transfer boss with the paperwork already in place for Yuki Kobayashi to become the latest signing when the transfer window opens on January 1.
Dan Orlowitz has become the go-to reporter for Celtic fans ever since Postecoglou was linked with a move to Scotland.
The Japan Times reporter doesn’t make any claims to be breaking exclusive transfer news but he can put the jigsaws together behind the scenes to stand up fact from fiction with J-League rumours.
I expressed my confidence on this move recently based on my sources, but if Kyodo are reporting it, 100% done deal here we go etc. https://t.co/IwnmcK9d39
— Dan Orlowitz (@aishiterutokyo) December 27, 2022
Kyodo News reports:
Yokohama F Marinos defender and J-League Player of the Year Tomoki Iwata is likely to join Scottish giants Celtic on loan, sources familiar with the matter said late Monday.
The 25-year-old Iwata made his senior national team debut in 2019 and was part of Japan’s East Asian E-1 Championship-winning squad in July 2022.
Celtic have World Cup striker Daizen Maeda and other players from Japan, such as Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate.
Iwata moved from Oita Trinita to the Yokohama-based club in 2021 and led Marinos to their first J-League title in three years this past season, which ended before the World Cup in Qatar.
It is expected that Iwata will initially join Celtic on loan, similar to Daizen Maeda in January 2022.
Postecoglou is expected to host a media conference at lunchtime today to preview Wednesday’s match away to Hibs.