Two days before the transfer window opens Celtic have announced their third January signing.
Tomoki Iwata joins the hoops from Yokohama F Marinos on loan with a compulsory signing clause kicking in at the end of the season. The deal seems very similar to the arrival of Daizen Maeda 12 months ago.
With Yuki Kobayashi officially signing on Sunday the arrival of Iwata brings to six the number of players that Ange Postecoglou has brought in from the J-League.
Although Yosuke Ideguchi is likely to leave Celtic next month the influence of the Japanese players is evident with six of Celtic’s last eight goals shared between Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Maeda.
??? #WelcomeTomoki
We are delighted to announce the signing of current J-League Player of the Year and Japanese international Tomoki Iwata.
Welcome to #CelticFC, Tomoki! ???
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) December 30, 2022
Postecoglou told the Celtic website:
We really are delighted to be bringing Tomoki to Celtic and I am sure he will be a player that our supporters will like.
He is a versatile player who can operate in defence in midfield, a really committed footballer with some great attributes. He is at a great age for us where his career is on the right trajectory, but he already has a good level of experience.
He has just had a brilliant season, he is very deserving of the accolade he has recently received as Japan’s Player of the Year and we are sure he can also bring this real high level of quality to our squad.
Alistair Johnston from Montreal CF is Celtic’s other January signing with Postecoglou showing a relentless streak that supporters haven’t known since the introduction of transfer windows.
There will be speculation over players departing next month but with Postecoglou’s success rate in the market fans will be looking forward to seeing Iwata and the other signings in action with the home match against Kilmarnock on January 7 looking the likely date.
I see a stupid hun ( is there any other kind? ) calling Tomoki, Lav Iwata, completely missing the irony of the term as applied to sevcunts, who are experts on the slurping of same.
Jobby wranglers ralottierum.