Celtic have today completed the signing of Japanese central defender Yuki Kobayashi on a five-year deal [Celtic FC].
We are delighted to announce the signing of Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi on a 5-year deal, subject to international clearance.
Yuki will officially join the Club on January 1, 2023! 🎌
Welcome to #CelticFC, Yuki! 🍀🇯🇵
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) November 23, 2022
The highly-rated 22-year-old is expected to join up with his new Hoops teammates on December 1st and is Ange Postecoglou’s first signing of the January transfer window.
Kobayashi will be available for selection for the Hoops when the registration window opens at the beginning of January.
He will join up with his former Vissel Kobe teammate Kyogo Furuhashi with Celtic having previously established a close relationship with the club having already entered a marketing agreement.
It further strengthens the bond which the club have established with the J-League as Kobayashi becomes the fifth player to join the Hoops from Japan in the past 18 months.
Once again, the club have acted swiftly in the market which is extremely positive to see and hopefully the former Vissel Kobe defender won’t be Postecoglou’s final signing this winter with the Hoops also targeting a fullback and centre forward.
There had been rumours about a deal for the defender a few weeks back with Celts Are Here exclusively speaking to journalist Dan Orlowitz about the defender.
One of the qualities which Dan spoke about appealing to Postecoglou was Kobayashi’s capability to play out from the back with the defender also tipped to make his senior international debut soon due to the shortage of central defenders.
