Former Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura expects more Japanese players to join the Hoops following J1 League success
FORMER CELTIC star Shunsuke Nakamura expects more Japanese players to make the cross-continent switch to his former side following the club's success this season.
The Parkhead hero admits watching Ange Postecoglou's new Japanese recruits gives him "great pleasure".
The Celtic boss brought striker Kyogo Furuhashi to the club shortly after arriving in Glasgow in the summer.
He then returned to Japan to snap up Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi in January.
It's been a successful avenue for Postecoglou as Kyogo quickly established himself as first choice and is still the club's top scorer despite being out of action since December with a hamstring injury.
The new signings have also hit the ground running since their arrival at the start of the year with just Ideguchi struggling for game time due to fitness issues.
read more celtic stories
Nakamura is delighted that Celtic have brought some of the J-League top stars over to Scotland so they can join him in making history in the Scottish Premiership and in Europe.
He believes Postecoglou will continue this trend and sign more Japanese players in the future.
He told the Celtic View: “Their success is a genuine pleasure for me and I’m very glad to see Ange Postecoglou take charge and take four Japanese players over who are all playing well.
“I think Celtic have four really good players.
Most read in Football
"Yosuke has more than 10 caps for Japan and is a great talent. Reo is only getting better by the day and won two league titles in Japan. Daizen is very quick and has all the ability required for modern football and matches the style of the manager.
“I hope more Japanese players will join Celtic in the future and help the club, but I also have my former team-mate Stephen McManus who is now a coach there, and I wish him good luck."
Nakamura joined Celtic in 2005 after Gordon Strachan signed him from Italian outfit Reggina.
It didn't take him long to make an impact in Glasgow as he quickly became a fan favourite amongst supporters.
He made over 100 appearances for the Hoops and was dubbed as one of the best free-kick takers of all time.
In 2007 he was nominated for the Ballon d'OR, was named Scottish Players of the Year and Scottish Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year and also became the first Japanese player to score in the Champions League .
Read more on The Scottish Sun
He's now 43-years-old and currently still plays for J2 League side Yokohama FC but the Japanese legend still follows Celtic from across the globe.
He said: "I am one of the Celtic supporters in the Far East now and I hope they will all carve their name in the history of the club and I wish them all the best luck.”
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page