Yuki Kobayashi: Celtic sign Japanese defender on five-year deal
- Published
Yuki Kobayashi will be available for Celtic from January
Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi has agreed to join Celtic from Vissel Kobe on a five-year contract.
Kobayashi, 22, has represented his country at under-20 level and joins countrymen Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda at the Scottish champions.
He will join the squad on 1 December and be registered to play in January.
"I know that Celtic over so many years has such a brilliant track record of success," centre-back Kobayashi said.
"And I now want to play my part in bringing more great moments to the club and our fans."
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou previously worked in Japan with Yokohama F Marinos and Kobayashi commented: "I can't wait to work with him as a coach and the great team of players he has already developed.
"I would like to thank Vissel Kobe sincerely for all the support that has been given to me in the early part of my career and now I look forward to embracing this exciting new challenge with Celtic, one of the world's great football clubs."
And Postecoglou said: "Yuki is someone that we've been following for a while and it was a great opportunity to bring him in. He's a left-sided centre-back, and they're hard to find.
"He's at a really good age where he's already had some great experience but with great potential ahead of him."
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