Ah, Aston Villa, welcome to the party! The Birmingham-based club has recently announced a partnership with J-League side Vissel Kobe [The Athletic], and it’s hard not to notice the glaringly obvious: they’re taking a leaf out of Celtic’s book. The Hoops have been trendsetters in tapping into the Japanese market, and it’s clear that Villa are keen to replicate that success.

Ange Postecoglou was the man who kicked it all off. He brought in Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe, and what a signing he’s been. Kyogo has been lighting up the Scottish Premiership, becoming an instant fan favourite at Parkhead. But it’s not just Kyogo; Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda, both J-League alumni, have also become regulars for the Hoops. Clearly, Ange knew what he was doing, and the rest of the footballing world is now playing catch-up.

And if Villa or anyone else needed more convincing, they only have to look at Kaoru Mitoma at Brighton. The lad made the move from Kawasaki Frontale and has been tearing it up in the Premier League. Funny enough, Ange tried to sign Mitoma for Celtic before he went down south. Just goes to show, Celtic have been ahead of the curve, and now others are starting to realise what they’ve been missing.

But here’s the rub. As more clubs start to take notice of the J-League, Celtic might find it harder to snap up talent from there in the future. That’s if they’re still looking to the Land of the Rising Sun in the next few years. All these J-League signings did come under Ange, after all.

So, while Aston Villa’s new partnership is a smart move on their part, let’s not forget who set the current trend. Celtic have been the pioneers, showing that the J-League is a serious avenue for clubs looking to bolster their squads. But as the secret gets out, the Hoops might find themselves with more competition than they’d like. Still, credit where credit’s due: Celtic were the first to make the leap in terms of really raiding the league for talent on a decent scale.

It’s then been on the players to make their mark, we have three men who have done that so far. Others haven’t faired so well to this point like Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata and Yosuke Ideguchi.