Journalist Lionel Piguet has claimed that Celtic’s move for Yuki Kobayashi is already a ‘done deal’ heading into the New Year.

Reports towards the end of October suggested that the Hoops were in talks with Vissel Kobe over a move for Kobayashi. The club are hoping to sign the 22-year-old during the January transfer window, with the player’s current contract set to expire over the coming months.

It looks as if Celtic have made good progress in discussions with the J1 League side, with Kobayashi potentially becoming the latest Japanese player to move to Glasgow.

The Latest: Journalist’s claim

Piguet, who covers Japanese football, has taken to Twitter over the last 48 hours to provide an update on Celtic and Kobayashi.

He claimed that ‘Kobayashi to Celtic is a done deal’ and congratulated the Hoops for signing ‘an excellent player’.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/key-latest-celtic-updates-9/" title="Key latest Celtic updates!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align=“none"]

The Verdict: Exciting

Kobayashi appears to be a clever player for his age, with A-League writer Sacha Pisani hailing the defender, saying that he is ‘good in the air’ and ‘reads/anticipates game well’.

An out-and-out centre-back, he’ll be able to provide competition to the club’s four current senior options under Ange Postecoglou, one of which is loanee Moritz Jenz.

It could turn out to be another shrewd move by the Hoops, and if Kobayashi can have a similar sort of impact to Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate at Parkhead, then you’d expect that a transfer will be looked back on as a good one by everyone involved at the club.