Kieran Tierney has revealed that he knew the exact person to turn to when his old side brought in a number of players from the J-League.
Many people hadn’t heard of the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen but one man who plays alongside the Scotland international Arsenal is defender Takehiro Tomiyasu was the very man to turn to for some inside knowledge on how they would perform after arriving in Glasgow.
Celtic recently added Yuki Kobayashi and Tomoki Iwata to the side as Yosuke Ideguchi looks set to depart Parkhead after various injury issues.
Tomiyasu was spotted only the other day alongside Hatate as both seem to have a goo d friendship as they are around a similar age and are likely to have came through at the same time.
Although Tierney may not play in the SPFL Premiership anymore, he is still keen on taking an interest in his boyhood club and has been impressed by the signings which Ange Postecoglou has made.
Tierney does of course have a Japanese Celtic connection of his own as Shunsuke Nakamura appears on video handing the youngster a pair of his boots which Tomiyasu was aware of seeing due to how big Nakamura was but it now looks as though he has been able to convert the Japanese international to being a Hoops fans as they both sit down to watch Postecoglou’s side.
“I speak to Tomi a lot. I didn’t know much about the boys who came in from Japan before and it’s the same with the two signed over the last month,” said Tierney speaking to the Scottish Sun.
“I don’t see the J-League and so I’ve been asking Tomi for info and his thoughts on them as players. Daizen Maeda was with Tomi in the Japan squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
“Tomi’s been very positive about all the boys signed and that’s been good to hear. He’s a great player himself and an excellent team-mate. He’s good company.
“I’m always speaking to Tomi and if ever there’s a Celtic game on at the training ground he sits and watches it with me. I’ve tried to make him a Celtic fan!
“It’s funny, but Tomi’s seen that old video of me being presented with boots by Shunsuke Nakamura when I was just a kid at Celtic. He was aware of it a long time ago. Nakamura was one of Tomi’s heroes growing up, but that goes for so many of the Japanese players all over the world.”
