Celtic are being lined up for a pre-season trip to Japan with Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City and Bayern Munich among the likely opponents.
With five signings from the J-League managed by Ange Postecoglou Celtic would be a big draw for native fans as well as the star filled squads of the other clubs from the A-List of European football.
It is more than a decade since Celtic went on far flung pre-season trips, in recent years training camps in Austria and Slovenia have been chosen for intensive fitness work topped up by a couple of matches against local opponents.
Postecoglou could still get a similar training stint in with the Japanese venture pencilled in for the second and third week of July.
The SPFL season will start on the weekend of August 5/6 which provides plenty of time to return to Scotland for a home friendly before the domestic season gets underway.
Japanese site Sponachi reports:
It was revealed by the 13th that the prestigious Paris Saint-Germain (SG) of the French first division is planning a Japan tour for the second year in a row this summer. According to officials, discussions are already underway through a Japanese agency, and although the opponent is undecided, they are planning to hold two friendly matches against a J1 club.
Paris SG is one of the world’s best star corps. During the Japan tour in July last year, he came to Japan with the best members and played three games with Kawasaki F, Urawa, and Gamba Osaka. All tickets were sold out, including the one with the highest price of 10 million yen. In addition, the training session was also released, causing a great fever.
According to officials, if the tour is decided, it is expected that the best members will come to Japan this summer as well as last year. Of course, expectations are high for the two men who had a fierce battle in last year’s World Cup final in Qatar, Argentina national team FW Messi and France national team FW Mbappe. Messi’s contract expires this season, with an option to extend for another year. If he remains in the team, it may be the last chance to see the majestic figure of the living legend who won the World Cup for the first time in Japan, which he professed to be the last.
?The best time to hold the event is the second and third weeks of July. In addition to Paris SG this summer, there is a growing possibility that the prestigious German club B Munich, the prestigious Premier League Manchester City, and Celtic, which has five Japanese players such as Maeda, will come to Japan. It looks like it will be a lot of fun with world class play.
