Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou will be finding it ‘incredibly difficult’ to interact with some of his players due to the language barrier, according to the club's former striker Frank McAvennie.

The Lowdown: Kobayashi agrees terms

The Premiership champions already have three Japanese players - Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda, all of whom require an interpreter - and that contingent soon looks set to become four.

Recent reports suggest that the Hoops have agreed personal terms to sign Vissel Kobe centre-back Yuki Kobayashi in January, with him expected to link up with his trio of fellow countrymen in the New Year.

The Latest: McAvennie’s comments

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie insisted that whilst Kobayashi would be a welcome addition at Celtic, he believes it’s no easy task for Postecoglou to work around the off-field obstacle in training every day.

The 62-year-old said: “They have got interpreters sitting on the bench and out on the training pitch. It must be incredibly difficult for the manager to try and get all that sunk into players when there is so many nationalities.

“From what I hear they are training with the players so that if the manager shouts at them they know what he is saying. It must be hard for the players.“

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The Verdict: More awareness needed

Whilst there are many issues in football which go unaddressed, the language barrier and translation situation should receive more awareness than it seemingly does at present.

The Celtic boss previously recalled an incident during his time in the J-League which saw one of his translators shown a yellow card for attempting to share a message with him, and despite protests, it wasn’t overturned.

Officials and those involved in the sport need to have a better understanding of the challenges being faced on the sidelines to make it easier for new signings to transition into the British game moving forward.