Celtic wanted to sign Manchester City defender Ko Itakura, but he is now heading off to Germany to sign for Schalke.
That’s according to SPORT1 in Germany, who claim that only the final details need to be sorted for Itakura to secure a move to Gelsenkirchen.
Itakura will be signing for Schalke on loan for the season with a purchase option of just €4million (£3.4million).
Schalke are desperate for new signings after relegation from the Bundesliga, and Itakura is seen as an important addition.
This is another blow for Celtic though.
The Bhoys have missed out on Manchester City defender Yan Couto, with the Brazilian picking a move to Portugal with Braga over Celtic.
It now looks like Celtic have missed out on another City defender in Itakura, with the strong links with the Premier League champions failing to help here.
Celtic were first linked with Itakura in June, with the Daily Record claiming that Ange Postecoglou wanted to bring him to Parkhead.
We have already seen Postecoglou make the most of the Japanese market; Kyogo Furuhashi has made an instant impact in green and white.
Itakura could have been another success story for Postecoglou, having starred on loan at Groningen last season and been branded ‘incredibly fast’ by Hans Kraay Jr.
Instead, he has chosen a move to Germany, leaving Celtic going back to the drawing board for another centre back.
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