Hayato Inamura

Well square my sausage, I hadn't seen this compilation yet. I know it's YouTube and a different league, but he looks to have 100x more potential here than in the other one. Maybe a good investment after all.

 

All initial opinions based on one twitter thread saying he needs work defensively and one good YouTube video can turn it all around

 

Just watching it and thinking the same

Good on the ball
Really quick, important in our recoveries
Slides in well
Ball carrier and good at beating a man
Some good crosses
Fairly aggressive

Still looks slightly lightweight for me and what I like in a centre half but his pace and ability to progress the ball up the park is something we lack in there..

Watching that, I can't help but think we see him as a left back moving on. Bombs up and down. Good at beating a man. Good at getting back. Good crossing and passing..

 

He can ping a pass and looks fast in the videos. Maybe the plan is to convert him into a left back

 

Yeah not right away in terms of being CCVs partner but if we have signed him as a centre back option he’s not a teenager even though he has the experience of one. He will need to play games whether that’s with us or someone on loan. I am not sure who you would even loan him too.

Perhaps it is we see him as having attributes to be played as a good left back? Given his ball carrying ability and passing range, with decent pace and size for a full back we maybe see him as an option to invert like Taylor was doing.

Time will tell, he will likely be costing between £500-750k or so coming from the J league.

If he is being brought in as a centre back option given he is left sided it brings me back to my original point, I can’t see us running with three left sided centre backs. Therefore, could Trusty or Scales be for the off? Probably more likely Trusty.

Either way centre back is a place in the team that needs major attention both in terms of ins and outs.

 

We have been pretty lucky with Japanese players so i would not be against giving him a chance if he has been scouted well.

 

Is this more a club signing than a Rodgers signing though?

 

Lots of early business being done relatively cheap makes me hopeful that there could be some serious outlay where required.

 

You would think so. He's obviously gonna have sign off on it though. Well I hope be has

 

Shved vibes with this.

Club signing that Rodgers has said * it I'll no be here at end of next season do what you want

 

That’s him passed his medical


4 year deal


Good business from the club

 

He's a ball playing left sided CB which we are crying out for . If we are signing LB cover it will be a LB we sign .

 

Everyone saying he’s going back on loan. In that case, I’m happy with the signing

 

I'm not... Loan is fine, but get him out to a Belgian team, or Italian or something... Or even down to the Championship or EFL1 to get roughed up a bit...

 

Sorry had enough of Japanese defenders after the last one flopped and was found out in a derby game and we need to spend a bit of money on a quality centre half as we have three mediocre centre halfs at the club at the moment.

 

The best defenders have an almost sixth sense when it comes to reading danger.


Sometimes they can even predict the future.

Not many would have expected Celtic to dip back into the Japanese market that proved so successful under Ange Postecoglou



The Aussie knew the scene out there but once he left, it was assumed the Hoops would return to transfer zones closer to home.



But clearly the Parkhead side have retained an interest in the Far East with Niigata defender Hayato Inamura popping up as a potential target.

Perhaps the 23-year-old saw it coming



After all, the youngster has previous for prophecy. A promising kid in the Japanese high school soccer set up, Inamura was snapped up by Yoto University and he was soon playing in the senior side when he was still in his first year.

His coach, Takuya Inoue, got the centre back to write down his goals for the next few years. It’s a management tactic Brendan Rodgers uses as well and Inamura scribbled down his grand plan.


He said: “I will get a job offer from a club in my third year and make my debut in my fourth year.”



Sure enough, mystic Inamura was spot on.

Niigate came in during his third year and he was a designated rookie for the J-League outfit just 12 months later. Another year on and he’s a man in demand – and Celtic are in the hunt.



When he broke through, Inamura said: “It was the most exciting opening game of my life. It is a given I am going to make every effort to make an even bigger impact than last season.

“Last year was the first step for me as a player. This year, I want to be known as the best in the J-League."

Inamura’s talent was recognised early on but it was the physical side that needed work.




He said: "Isao Homma (Niigata strength coach) told me that one of the reasons I was accepted early was to improve my physique and I have worked hard to do so.”

Inamura has bulked up having shifted from left back to the centre of defence, but it might be a different issue dealing with the rugged nature of Scottish football.

It’s not something that should faze him, however, and it’s also not something that show put off fans.



Celtic’s Japanese odyssey in recent seasons proved to be successful. Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have become modern day heroes at the club and played major roles during these trophy laden times and it goes way back to trailblazer Shinsuke Nakamura.

Kyogo departed to Rennes for £10m last January, Maeda is the reigning player of the year and won’t be allowed to leave for less than £20m and Hatate remains one of the top assets at the club.


Not every signing from Japan has cracked it though. Tomoki Iwata arrived as the player of the year in his homeland but struggled to nail down a regular role.



It didn’t help being up against Callum McGregor though. There’s still an argument Celts were too hasty in letting him go, however.

Iwata wasn’t as quick-footed as the captain in the middle – but not many are – yet he was still solid enough and more than capable of also slotting in at centre back, where he played in the Scottish Cup Final win against Inverness a couple of years ago.


He's since been a smash hit under former Hoops no.2 Chris Davies at Birmingham City, albeit in romping to the title in the English third tier.

Then there was Yuki Kobayashi. There were not too many Celtic fans protesting when he was punted to the Portuguese second division after a season or so.

Kobayashi had a neat left peg but it was the physical side in Scotland that proved to be too much of a challenge and the writing was on the wall when he got ragged dolled in the end of season dead rubber 3-0 defeat to Rangers




Some Hoops fans will be concerned there are some similarities between Inamura and Kobayashi. Both are left sided centre backs, who can do a job at left back, but have question marks over the rough and tumble side of the game.

Inamura has put in the gym hours already, however, in a bid to build himself up. It might take a few more square sausages at Lennoxtown to prepare him for the Premiership mind you.


He only needs to look to the likes of Hatate, Maeda and Iwata for inspiration though. Kyogo was less than 10st soaking wet but his nimble frame was used to his advantage when it came to leaving defenders for dead.



But no one can throw any misguided national stereotypes at the other Far East imports.

Iwata was a tank while Hatate has highs that wouldn’t look out of place hanging from a butcher’s hook. Maeda isn’t the biggest but he’s tough as old boots with a locomotive engine.

The old tired cliches about Japanese players not handling the brute force of the European game is right out of the window these days


There are now more than 100 stars scattered across the continent – which is up 90 percent in just five years.

The likes of Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, Hatate’s pal Kaoru Mitoma at Brighton and Bayern Munich’s Hiroki Ito are right at the top level.

Inamura – whose hero is Johan Cruyff – is just starting out and still has a lot to prove.


Celtic have had more hits than misses in the market with their Japanese Bhoys but even he couldn’t predict how he’d get on at Parkhead

 

I didn't realise all Japanese defenders have identical attributes and are all the exact same level. They must have a dreadful back like in the national team.