Hayato Inamura Official

Ange signing for his come back in a year

 

Genuinely wouldn't surprise me if he come back when Rodgers goes.

 

Ange returning is my dream but I’d be very surprised if he’s out of a job this time next year.

 

Celtic’s £250k move for Hayato Inamura comes from left-field and Brendan Rodgers admits he hasn't been signed to go straight into the first-team. So why have Celtic brought him to Scotland, what are his strengths, his weaknesses and what does the move tell us about the club's transfer strategy? We speak to a Japanese football analyst to find out more.


Celtic have gone back to Japan to recruit a player, but this time, the profile is very different.

Hayato Inamura was unveiled as the club’s new £250,000 transfer on Friday, signing a four-year deal.

The 23-year-old centre-back arrives not from a dominant J-League club like Kawasaki Frontale or Yokohama F. Marinos, but from the lesser lights of Albirex Niigata and before that, the Japanese university system. Unlike Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi or Reo Hatate, Inamura doesn’t come to Glasgow fully formed.

Celtic know he’s a long-term project, but beneath that lies something they clearly value. He is a calm, technically adept, left-footed defender with the potential to grow.

As Japanese football analyst Ryo Nakagawara tells The Celtic Way, Inamura is something of an unorthodox signing, but one that may reveal where Celtic’s recruitment is heading, and how the next wave of Japanese talent is being sourced.

A different route to Celtic Park
That difference in profile starts with the path Inamura has taken to reach Celtic Park, a route that diverges sharply from the club’s now-familiar blueprint for recruiting from Japan.



When Celtic signed Maeda, Furuhashi, Hatate and others, each was a proven performer in the J-League. Some were playing for title-challenging clubs, or had earned international recognition, and arrived with significant experience at the top level in Japan. They had a track record which Inamura doesn’t possess. He has never represented Japan at youth or senior level. He has no domestic silverware to his name.

Until last year, he was playing in university football. His league debut at Albirex Niigata came only in April 2024, and even then, he was signed through Japan’s special “designated player” registration system that allows university players to feature temporarily in the J-League before going full-time.

“It’s the biggest difference between Inamura and the others who went to Celtic,” explains Shogun Soccer editor Nakagawara. “Inamura is skipping all those steps. Normally, a player like him, coming from the university route and playing for a mid-table J-League team, would spend a year or two there and then make the step up to a big club like the ones that Maeda and Hatate were playing for.”

Celtic are not signing an established J-League star. They are trying to get ahead of the curve.





Japan’s untapped talent resource
To have full context surrounding Celtic’s move for Inamura, you have to be familiar with a key quirk of Japanese football development - the university system.

In Japan, most professional clubs run academies up to under-18 level, but unlike Europe, there has been no established U21 or U23 structure to provide a pathway between youth and senior football. That leaves two choices at 18: sign a pro deal with a J-League club (if you’re a prodigious talent and there’s space) or head to university.

“It is kind of like an unintended under-23 league,” explains Nakagawara. “It exists because there’s a gap in the football system. A lot of talented players don’t get signed straight away, so they go to university and the level is actually quite good.”

Inamura is a product of this path. He wasn’t picked up by a top-flight side, but he has developed into a composed, ball-playing centre-back during his time at university, eventually attracting the attention of Albirex Niigata and, soon after, Celtic.

Japanese clubs have long used the university system as a deferred development model. Nakagawara says many J-League teams recommend promising academy graduates attend university, telling them: “We like you, but you’re not ready for the first team yet. Go play for four years, and we’ll keep monitoring you.” Some players sign pre-contracts with J-League clubs while still in their second or third year, with the understanding they’ll be brought in once ready.

That model, however, is now being tested. European clubs have started scouting the university leagues directly. Celtic are not the first to move early for a player in Japan. Dutch side NEC Nijmegen signed Kento Shiogai in 2024 straight from university, despite an existing agreement with a J-League club. Danish outfit Brondby have also just signed Kotaro Uchino before a senior league debut.

Nakagawara explains, “It's becoming a big issue for J-League clubs that it's not just their own players already in their first team that are getting taken by European clubs for quite cheap fees. It's now also their usual hunting grounds of the academy sides and also the university football systems, where a lot of really smart and value-hunting clubs are digging into and grabbing players that they think have potential before the J-League.”

Partly in an effort to combat this, authorities in Japan are introducing a new U21 league in the country from the 2026/27 season.

What Celtic see in Hayato Inamura
Inamura does at least have some J-League appearances to his name but why are Celtic moving so quickly to take a gamble on a defender with just a year of professional football under his belt?

The answer lies in the type of centre-back Inamura is, and the very specific needs Brendan Rodgersidentified last season. A calm, confident ball-player on the left side of defence has become one of the most sought-after profiles in modern football and Celtic are always looking.

“Inamura’s biggest strengths are his technical qualities rather than his defensive ones,” says Nakagawara. “His ball progression is extremely impressive. He’s very calm on the ball and very confident. He can invite pressure and find a way out through passing or by carrying the ball forward himself. It’s not just short passing, but diagonals to the wingers too. That’s a big weapon he has.”

It’s not hard to see the appeal for a Rodgers side that dominates possession domestically and faces deep, compact defences most weeks. When Celtic are slowed down, it often begins at the back, with centre-backs taking too long to move the ball and struggling to find angles into midfield. It was a recurring frustration for Rodgers last season, alternating between Auston Trusty and Liam Scales.

Inamura is naturally left-footed and has played almost exclusively on the left side of a back four. While some fans have speculated he could cover at left-back, Nakagawara is clear: “He played a lot of different positions when he was younger but he’s cemented himself as a left-sided centre-back. He’s barely played full-back, maybe once for 30 minutes or so when someone got injured.”

The J-League, while not as physically demanding as Scotland in a combative sense, is an intense, high-pressing competition where defenders are constantly tested in build-up. Inamura’s ability to play through that pressure, both with the ball at his feet and through accurate distribution, is what separates him from many of his peers.

“He's not the fastest,” Nakagawara says. “However, he accelerates quickly. That lets him drop a shoulder and blast off in another direction to evade opponents.

“The J-League is pressing-heavy. It’s not like the rough-and-tumble Scottish Premiership but it’s intense. Inamura has stood out for how calm he is under that kind of pressure.”

Celtic are betting on potential over pedigree. Inamura doesn’t arrive with a full CV, but he may possess a rare blend of traits Celtic believe they can refine over time.






A raw talent requires patience
There are clear areas of Inamura’s game that will need significant development if he’s to succeed in Scotland, particularly when it comes to actually defending against opponents, where his fundamentals remain inconsistent.

“He’s got good awareness and reactions,” says Nakagawara, “but he still makes mistakes in key moments and bad decisions that lead to goals. Especially in aerial duels, it’s not just that he gets outmuscled. It’s often that he’s not even in the right position to contest the header in the first place.

“He’ll switch off or he’ll be caught out by a run, or get into the wrong position under a cross. He’s still not fully developed physically. But the main issue is decision-making. That’s what needs to improve over time. Especially for him joining Celtic, it's going to take some patience and a lot of leadership from his centre-back partners and from the coaching staff as well.”

It seems that Inamura doesn’t yet offer the dominant presence Rodgers typically values in the heart of defence. The Scottish Premiership presents a different type of challenge than the J-League. It’s more direct and more punishing if you’re caught under the ball.

Celtic have found some success in the past utilising development loans to best prepare incoming young talents for the demands of Scottish football. Kristoffer Ajer stands out as a notable example.

“Usually players like Inamura wouldn’t move to Europe for a few more years,” Nakagawara explains. “This is a very early move, looking into the future. A loan might be good initially, depending on how he looks in pre-season and whether Brendan Rodgers takes a real liking to him.”

Either way, Celtic will need to manage his integration carefully. Inamura is unlikely to become a standout straight away.

A sign of evolving strategy
Hayato Inamura’s arrival is a reminder that recruitment has to be taken on a case-by-case basis, especially at a club trying to outthink, not outspend, its rivals across Europe. Celtic have built a clear track record in the Japanese market, but Inamura represents a shift from signing proven J-League talent to identifying emerging potential before it fully matures.

There’s risk in that. Inamura is far from the finished article. Some will scoff at signing a project when the road to success is littered with pitfalls and Celtic already have a need to upgrade its defence. But in a football economy where left-footed, ball-playing centre-backs are scarce and increasingly expensive, this may be the kind of early, speculative move Celtic have to make more often.

“Inamura is very green in various ways,” says Nakagawara. “If he was right-footed, maybe teams would wait a bit longer. But he has really good technical skills, especially in the build-up with his progressive passing. A defender with a left foot that can do that kind of stuff is still quite rare and is quite special. Celtic want to get in early before someone else does.”

Whether he breaks through this season, or develops on loan elsewhere, will depend on how quickly he can adjust to life in Scotland and how highly regarded his training work at Lennoxtown is. But the logic behind the move is clear: find value where others aren’t looking yet, and back your coaching environment to bring that potential to life.

It’s not a headline-grabbing signing, nor does it involve the blockbuster fee that fans might expect, but if Celtic get this one right, it will show that value signings can underpin more expensive purchases in a healthy recruitment model. That’s the balance every club is trying to strike.

 

Folk getting their knickers in a twist here over nothing. He has cost us peanuts. It’s basically a no risk signing. He clearly hasn’t been brought in with a view to be part of the first team right now, and that’s a good thing in my opinion. I’d be more worried if he had been.

 

Mildly disappointing he's not our LB. I love it when managers convert a player to play a different position.

 

Well people thought Lagerbielke was gonna be the business by the sounds of his credentials.
So it could work thd opposite way...and has many times before.

Remember Henrik wasn't good enough to play as a striker for Feyenoord. In fact he was their 2nd choice winger 400 grand

 

I also remember the gaffer at ma auld work taking the * when we signed Van Dijk.
All the * Van Dijk jokes and actually seriously said Moshni of the sevco was a better centre half.

Things turn out unexpectedly is what I'm saying.

I wanted to jump in the telly and kill Daizen Maeda when he missed that glaring sitter against Real Madrid.
Now I'm working on reconciliation with the guy. He's showing signs of improvement you could say

 

Intresting comments on youtube from Japanese people hoping he gets turned into a LB. That it has been discussed in Japan quite a bit.

Skickat från min SM-F956B via Tapatalk

 

It makes a pointless signing seem even more pointless he's 23 not 17

 

It's touch and go with the whole far Eastern market.

A few belting signings...

Nakamura, Kygo. Maeda, Ki-Seung Yung, and probably Hatate,

A few absolute misfits, Du-Wei, Kobayashi, Ideguchi, Kwon, Zheng Zhi, and I'd say yes Cha Du Rei aswell he was also pish

I thought Iwata had more in his locker than what we got to see and jury is out on Big Bang Yang although he's defintely improving and I hope he does well

It really could go either way. It's a wait and see job. I know if I went to work in demolition in Tokyo (which is my profession) that I'd be wary and it'd take me a bit of time to settle in........

But then I would and I'd demolish all of Tokyo and build a new world capital with me as the High Emporer Supreme Leader of Earth...with a highly trained Samurai Ninja army to do my bidding

 

Ian Wright was 24 when Crystal Palace signed him off a building site

 

What’s the common theme there from your lists? All the ones who have been successes have largely been attacking or technical midfield players.

Even with Ideguchi, Iwata, and Kobayashi we at least got our money back if not a small profit on them. Yang will probably fall into that category. Kwon we can probably just about get the £800k or so we paid or get out it with a minimal loss.

Oh we will have turned a profit as I would imagine he’* most of the add ons to get the full fee for him.

I think it will be the financial side that attracts us to these markets.

Kyogo bought for £4.5m was our main man for 3 of the 4 years he was here sold for £10m.

Nakamura - an absolutely bossed it for a good few years well worth the £2.5m we paid for him for that freekick against Man Utd alone.

Hatate - for £1.4m has been class for us, if he does move you would imagine it will be £10m absolute minimum so again turn a big profit.

Maeda - again £1.5m has been class and if he was to be sold I am sure we would want £20m for him minimum.

Ki - bought for around £2m and sold for £6m. Not to mention he was a big deal in Korea at the time so the club probably done ok out of marketing wise with him too.

 

Who knows. Im not convinced we have signed this guy even as long shot punt though. With his age, experience and physicality for a CB it just seems totally off even at the small fee. Id be shocked if he even makes an appearance or two for us.

 

He was * for Celtic as well

 

Out of all those duds you mentioned above, woulf lucky if they even cost us £2m combined - probably made more in revenue during their time here.

 

Hopefully he comes good,with the right coaching and build him up physically.

 

a punt

did he get any minutes against queens park ?