Brendan Rodgers has confirmed Shin Yamada is on his way to Celtic – but made it crystal clear he’s still demanding more up top.
The Japanese forward is expected in Glasgow within 24 hours to undergo a medical ahead of a £1.3m switch from Kawasaki Frontale. While Rodgers will run the rule over the 23-year-old in the coming days, he wasted no time in reiterating his intent to bring in further attacking options before the window shuts.
“He’ll have a medical over the next couple of days and we’ll have a look at him,” Rodgers told SunSport. “We’ve lost a lot of goals so we need to replace that. Hopefully this can be one of a number of players we can bring in that aspect.”
Yamada is being viewed internally as a development player with potential to impact now — but Rodgers’ comments carry the tone of a manager who wasn’t necessarily the driving force behind this particular deal.
“He’s got intensity and workrate. It’s something the scouts have seen,” Rodgers added. “In terms of the club, we will bring in players to develop and players for now. Even though he’s a bit older, he’s probably one of those that can give us that intensity and pressure.
“I need to look and see him when he comes in and hopefully he can do well. The idea was to bring him in and assess him.”
Rodgers made it abundantly clear he sees Yamada as only part of the solution, not the finished article.
“He’s a strong boy – but we’d want to add to our front line also.”
The comments follow Celtic’s 2-0 pre-season win over Sporting in Portugal, where Rodgers saw his side look sharp in patches — but clearly feels more clinical threat is required. Adam Idah is our main striker and Callum Osmand has arrived as a summer signing, yet it’s clear the manager doesn’t believe the firepower is there yet to replace what was lost.
With Celtic facing Newcastle this weekend before jetting off to Italy for the Como Cup, Rodgers will use the next fortnight to assess what Yamada can offer — but won’t wait long to push the board for another proven striker.
The message from the manager is unmistakable: reinforcements are coming, and Yamada alone won’t satisfy the demand for goals at Celtic Park.
If you would like to learn more about learn more about our newest bhoy. We wrote a deep dive into Yamada last week on the site.
