Celtic are interested in Ko Itakura as Schalke seemingly struggle to cobble the money together to sign the Manchester City defender.
Celtic wrestled back the Scottish Premiership title from Rangers but now face another big summer window.
Last summer proved to be a roaring success thanks to the impact of signings like Joe Hart, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota and Kyogo Furuhashi.
Ange Postecoglou now needs to find more quality signings – and there could be another Japanese player coming in.
Celtic are interested in Ko Itakura
Postecoglou’s knowledge of the Japanese market has brought Celtic some incredible signings.
Furuhashi is the star attraction but Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have made a big impact too, with Yosuke Ideguchi yet to get going.
Postecoglou was linked with another Japanese star last summer – and it’s one that made plenty of sense.
Celtic were keen on signing Manchester City defender Ko Itakura after Postecoglou had left a club from the City Football Group in Yokohama F. Marinos.
Celtic missed out as Schalke struck a loan-to-buy deal for Itakura. Their sporting director Rouven Schroder claimed that Celtic were ‘desperate’ to sign Itakura.
Itakura scored four times as Schalke won promotion but his permanent deal is in doubt.
Schalke are struggling to pay the £5million purchase clause in Itakura’s loan and he could now be sent back to City.
The Manchester Evening News now report that Celtic are indeed interested in Itakura once again.
It’s stated that Celtic are rivalling Freiburg in the race for Itakura, this time hoping to finally win the race for his signature.
Seeing the success of his Japanese compatriots is surely appealing to Itakura, who now needs to settle down after three years out on loan.
Itakura has been hailed as ‘incredibly fast’ and could be a huge addition to Celtic’s back line – whether Cameron Carter-Vickers stays or not.
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