Yuki Kobayashi is ready January loan move away from Celtic...

Yuki Kobayashi is ready January loan move away from Celtic

Yuki Kobayashi is scheduled to go on loan from Celtic in January.

Since returning to Parkhead in the summer,

the defender has not yet made an appearance for Brendan Rodgers.

Under Ange Postecoglou, the 23-year-old joined Vissel Kobe

on a free transfer in January of last year. However, he only made seven appearances.

After just a year in Scotland, the Scottish Sun now claims that multiple

J League clubs are willing to offer him a chance to return to Japan.

According to the report, the center-half would love to go back to Vissel Kobe,

but a lot of teams are interested in signing him, and managers back home still think highly of him.

Under Rodgers, Kobayashi was supposed to be free to go in the summer,

but he sustained an injury that kept him from leaving.

He’s fully fit again and played last week in Celtic B’s Dundee testimonial for Cammy Kerr.

The Japanese defender will look to have a move lined up by the time

the window opens in about six weeks, as he is behind Gustaf Lagerbielke,

Nat Phillips, Stephen Welsh, Maik Nawrocki,

Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Liam Scales in the pecking order.

In a statement from last month, Brendan Rodgers acknowledged that the goal

of the winter transfer window will be to get rid of players rather than add new ones.

“There will be players here for six months who will not have played,”

he declared. They are not to blame. I would prefer a smaller squad than this one.

“I believe that a greater number of players will seek to go out and obtain playing time.

“It came down to talking to some of the players who weren’t able to

leave after the last window closed. “Let us assess our progress over the next six months,”

I said. Naturally, we’ll give it another look in January if it doesn’t work out with game time.

“Some of those players have had game time and will be happy, while others will feel they want to play.”