Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates with the trophy after winning the Premier Sports Cup Final at Hampden Park. Image: Alamy Stock Photo Celtic's Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates with the trophy after winning the Premier Sports Cup Final at Hampden Park. Image: Alamy Stock Photo CELTIC AND Rangers will renew their rivalry on Wednesday in a crucial battle for supremacy in the Scottish Premiership with a new legion of fans set to rise at the crack of dawn to tune in from Japan.
New Year celebrations for fans in Glasgow started early when the club announced the signings of Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda on 31 December. “The deals wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Postecoglou being at Celtic,” Japanese football expert Sean Carroll told AFP. “Japanese clubs still take an element of pride in sending their players to Europe,” Carroll explained.
Celtic’s current quartet of Japanese imports do not yet have the same star attraction in their homeland as Nakamura did, but their presence is being noticed.