Club confirm they’ve beaten Celtic to Postecoglou’s transfer target

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Ryotaro Ito has been unveiled at Belgian outfit Sint Triuden as Celtic miss out on a player who was reportedly on Ange Postecoglou’s summer wishlist. 

If the now-Tottenham Hotspur boss had ignored the bright lights of the Premier League in favour of building upon a treble-winning campaign at Parkhead, perhaps the former Alibrex Niigata playmaker would have been one of his first off-season additions. 

According to the Daily Record, 25-year-old Ryotaro Ito had been watched by Ange Postecoglou’s scouts last term. 

One of the most exciting talents in Japan, Ito would have become the latest in a long-line of J-League additions to join Celtic the former Australia coach, following in the footsteps of Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Tomoki Iwata, Reo Hatata, Yuki Kobayashi and Yosuke Ideguchi. 

Postecoglou’s departure to Tottenham at the start of June, however, saw reports linking Ito with Celtic go cold., with stylish midfielder unveiled by Sint Triuden instead. He now takes a leaf out of Kaoru Mitoma’s book; joining a team who finished 12^th in the Belgian top-flight in 2022/23. 

Celtic miss out on Ryotaro Ito

“We are very happy that Ryotaro Ito chooses STVV,” says the club’s Japanese CEO, Takayuki Tateishi. “The ambition is to form a team with a mix of local players and international talent. 

“We expect Ito to give our attacking compartment extra impetus. Moreover, he has already gained the necessary experience, so that he can help carry our team.”

Ito idolises Ronaldinho and models his game on that of fleet-footed Brazilian playmakers. He arrives in Belgium after scoring seven goals and setting up four more in his last 17 matches for Alibrex. 

“I am very happy with my transfer to STVV,” Ito adds. “It will be my first foreign club, so I can’t wait to start training and contribute to the team. See you soon.”

Celtic, meanwhile, are reportedly closing in on a deal that will see their old boss become their new boss. Brendan Rodgers, who guided the Hoops to seven trophies during a two-and-a-half year spell between 2016 and 2019, is now in advanced talks over a shock return to Glasgow (Scottish Sun).