With Celtic looking to offload fringe players, Yuki Kobayashi’s next possible destination has been mooted as the Japanese defender’s future at the club hangs in the balance.
The defender was signed by Ange Postecoglou last season but has so far failed to command a starting place in the Celtic team ahead of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Liam Scales this season.
Injured during pre-season, Kobayashi’s new season didn’t get the best of starts but now fully recovered, the Japanese defender is still nowhere to be seen in Celtic’s matchday squad.
Linked with a move to the MLS in January, it did seem as though Kobayashi was on his way out in the winter window, but as yet, nothing has developed.
Speaking about the Hoops defender on A Celtic State of Mind, Japan-based podcaster, Liam Carrigan, has admitted that there has been no interest rumoured in the Far East but did suggest where Kobayashi is more than likely to end up.
When asked if he’s heard anything in Japan about Kobayashi’s return to the J League, Carrigan said, “Nothing over here. I’d be very surprised if he came over here now because the J League season’s already started.
“J League clubs tend to prefer to get players in before the season starts. I mean there’s nothing to say they can’t sign up players but it’s very unusual.”
When asked if the MLS could be a possible destination, Carrigan said, “That’s probably more likely. He’ll get more time on the ball over there.
“It’s less physical. It’d be better suited to his style of play if he wants to go on and develop.” (A Celtic State of Mind)
Yuki Kobayashi Celtic stats
The Japanese defender has only played seven times for Celtic in the pasttwo seasons amassing just 584 minutes of first team football. [Transfermarkt]
In average over that time he has been rated 6.2 by Fotmob as he failed to take advantage of his opportunities.
Kobayashi’s passing stats are really decent at 89.7% averaging 85 successful passes per game. However, it’s his defending that lets him down.
Winning just over 36% of his duels on average, attackers seem to get the best of Kobayashi more often than not. Making less than one interception per game is not good for a defender and his aerial duels are not much better as he loses over 63% of them in each 90 minutes he plays.
Kobayashi is another who needs to leave Celtic in order to kickstart his football career. It is evident that he has no future in Glasgow and hopefully a move away from the club will be organised sooner rather than later.
QUIZ: If You Know Your History: Test your Celtic knowledge with our quickfire quiz
