Brendan Rodgers is set to kick off his second tenure at Celtic with a pre-season tour of Asia, as the club prepares for the 2023/2024 season.
The Hoops are yet to announce the exact date when their senior players will return to Lennoxtown for pre-season training, but it will likely be in the first week or so of July, with international players afforded an extra few weeks rest.
What has been confirmed is that they will hold a European training camp before embarking on their journey to Japan and South Korea. [Celtic FC]
Celtic have announced three pre-season friendlies as part of their 2023 tour of Asia. The team will play two matches in Japan against J-League teams Yokohama F Marinos and Gamba Osaka, followed by a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in South Korea.
The friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos will be particularly poignant, as it would have marked a homecoming for former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, who left the Japanese club to join Celtic in 2021.
While at Celtic, Postecoglou also signed Daizen Maeda and Tomoki Iwata from Yokohama, while Yosuke Ideguchi was brought in from Gamba Osaka.
Following the Asian tour, Celtic will return home to host La Liga side Athletic Bilbao in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park. This match will also serve as a testimonial for James Forrest, a one-club hero who has won 23 major titles with Celtic and is one of the club’s most decorated players of all time.
The pre-season schedule is as follows:
- July 19, KO 11:00 BST: Celtic vs Yokohama F Marinos, Nissan Stadium, Yokohama
- July 22, KO 11:00 BST: Celtic vs Gamba Osaka, Panasonic Stadium, Suita
- July 26, KO 12:00 BST: Celtic vs Wolves, Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
- August 1, KO 19:30 BST: Celtic vs Athletic Bilbao, Celtic Park, Glasgow
With Rodgers at the helm, Celtic will be hoping to hit the ground running in the upcoming season, and the pre-season tour will provide a crucial opportunity for the team to gel under their new manager and allow him to put his ideas into practice.
