Shunsuke Nakamura, the former Celtic playmaker, had a role to play in paving the way to Glasgow for Yuki Kobayashi. The 22-year-old spent a season on loan at Yokohama FC in 2020 when the 41-year-old Nakamura — who made 10 J-League appearances that season — was coming to the end of his playing years.
“He was at Yokohama and he talked to me about the experiences he had in the Champions League,” said the defender who will formally join Celtic on January 1. “At that moment, I never thought I was going to play for Celtic so I didn’t ask too much about the club. But he really sold it and told me about the happiness and joy he had in the Champions League. Of course, he had a fantastic career. Being able to listen to someone who had those top-level experiences was really great and exciting for me as a young player. It helped me to design my career.”
Kobayashi will join four of his fellow countrymen at Celtic with a long-term ambition to use the exposure with Ange Postecoglou’s side to force his way into the Japan squad. Having watched what has been a successful World Cup campaign so far for his country, with Thursday night’s thrilling win over Spain enabling them to top their group on the way to qualifying for the last 16, Kobayashi is keen to aim for international honours.
Kyogo Furuhashi was a surprise omission while Reo Hatate would also have had designs on making it which would suggest the strength of the current squad.
“Our national team is doing very well and I would like to play with them in the future,” he said. “This is why I came to Celtic. To try and play well here and then hopefully be called up to the national team. By playing well here, I can have a lot of opportunities to be part of the squad. This is very important for me.
“The manager is expecting me to be a strong defender at centre-back and to help the build-up and support our playing style. In terms of the opportunity ahead, I will just have to show my best performances to get those opportunities. I have one month to show myself in training.
“I am now in a different league with a bigger club. With that, I think I will have a bigger pressure on me. But mentally I feel ready for it. I just need to show my best performances on the pitch when I have an opportunity.”
Celtic have already banked more than £1million from their players competing in the World Cup. Josip Juranovic, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Aaron Mooy and Daizen Maeda will all compete in the knockout stages with that figure potentially rising.
“It won’t come in to my pocket mate, but I will try to spend it!” joked Postecoglou. “It’s a great experience for the players. Having been at a World Cup, you come away really motivated to be the best you can be having rubbed shoulders with the best in the world.
“The added bonus for us is they have all made significant contributions for their countries and qualified for the next round. Cameron was outstanding for USA against Iran. He’s not played a lot of international football but we know his presence on the field makes others better as well.
“Daizen worked his socks off against Spain the other night for his country and Jura and Aaron Mooy have been outstanding as well. It’s great for us as a club to have four players in the knockout stages of a World Cup.
“There won’t be many clubs who have that so we can take some pride in the fact.”
Postecoglou, meanwhile, has offered his sympathy to the departed Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
“I think Gio is a fantastic manager,” he said. “He had success in Holland and in Scotland. It shouldn’t be lost on people the fact he won a trophy last season and got to a European final. I have no doubt’s he’ll be a success wherever he lands next.”
