The January transfer window slammed shut for Celtic at the start of this month but that has not stopped speculation as one player has reportedly been told that he is free to leave the club.
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According to Football Insider, central defender Yuki Kobayashi has been told that he can leave Parkhead if his agents can find a new team for him to join.
The report claims that a proposed move to HJK Helsinki collapsed earlier this month, which has left him in the lurch and without a chance to play first-team football in the short-term.
It states that he is not in Brendan Rodgers' plans at Celtic and that the centre-back is 'actively' searching for a way out of Glasgow, with possible moves to countries that still have their respective transfer windows open.
The club agreed a deal to sign him from Japanese side Vissel Kobe in November 2022, officially joining in January 2023, and the young talent put pen-to-paper on a whopping five-year contract.
Ange Postecoglou swooped to snap up the then-22-year-old defender on a permanent deal and that has turned out to be a blunder from the Australian head coach, as the club have endured a nightmare with the left-footed enforcer during his time in Scotland so far.
Yuki Kobayashi's time at Celtic in numbers
The 23-year-old flop still has over four years left to run on his contract, which expires in the summer of 2028, but has already been told that he is free to leave this year.
Rodgers has clearly not seen enough from him in training over the last eight months or so to suggest that Kobayashi has the required quality to be a first-team regular for the Hoops any time soon, hence why the Northern Irish boss has sanctioned a departure.
He has not made a single senior appearance for Celtic during the 2023/24 campaign but did play six times for Postecoglou in the Scottish Premiership last term.
Appearances
Six
Starts
Five
Tackles per game
0.3
Interceptions per game
0.7
Ground duel success rate
38%
Aerial duel success rate
36%
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the Australian boss did provide the left-footed enforcer with plenty of opportunities to showcase his quality as a starter but the former J1 League star did not grasp them.
The £8.3k-per-week dud left far too much to be desired from a physical perspective as opposition forwards found it too easy to get the better of him, both in the air and on the deck, over the course of those six outings.
In his last appearance for the Hoops, Kobayashi played the full 90 minutes and lost four of his six duels as Celtic were hammered 4-2 by Hibernian.
It is not a surprise that Rodgers has not opted to utilise him ahead of the likes of Liam Scales, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Maik Nawrocki, among others, so far this season as the Japanese defender failed to deal with the physical nature of Scottish football last season.
Therefore, the Hoops have had a mare with Kobayashi, who has not been a successful signing as it stands, as they are now looking to cut ties with the 23-year-old, just over a year into a five-year contract.
