Yamada has skillset to hit ground running at Celtic

J-League expert backs new signing to find his feet and the net at Parkhead

Celtic scouts know what they’re doing. They’re not looking at players who are going to sell shirts, they’re looking at players who are going to contribute

19 Jul 2025 - Glasgow Times

Josh McCafferty Exclusive interview

THE best adjective to describe how the majority of Celtic supporters are feeling about the arrival of little-known Japanese striker Shin Yamada is underwhelmed. When Brendan Rodgers lost Kyogo Furuhashi, now at Birmingham City, to Stade Rennais in January, he wanted a new No. 9. Few would have thought that seven months on, he would finally have been granted his wish in the form of another forward from the land of the rising sun.

Twenty-five years of age, Yamada has been plying his trade with Kawasaki Frontale since 2023, after spending four years at Toin University of Yokohama.

Four goals in 22 Kawasaki appearances in 2025 will not fill the Parkhead faithful with confidence, although J-League expert Dan Orlowitz has watched enough of Yamada to conclude that he has every chance of succeeding in Glasgow in a similar manner to many of his compatriots.

“He plays as a central striker, he is good at dropping deep,” says Orlowitz. “Where he excels is really in the box. He’s just good at getting behind the defenders, he’s really fast with his sprints, and he knows when to time his runs.

“Physically, he’s obviously not the tallest player, but he’s very well built, and he’s able to deal with a lot of the physical side of things, although that’s relative to the J- League, and he does struggle against super élite opposition, and, you know, Europe is going to be a step up for him.

“I think what helps him on the attack [ is] his abilities in the box, and his versatility when it comes to shot selection, he’s sort of able to create goals just about any way that he has available. As far as the defensive side of things, he’s been improving that a lot this season.

“He obviously scored a ton of goals last year, and that’s part of why he got on Celtic’s radar. I think a lot of fans are concerned that they’re not seeing those sorts of numbers this year.

“I was talking to a very good analyst friend of mine who pointed out that Frontale last year, they sort of thrived offensively in chaos. And this year they’ve been much more composed. Shigetoshi Hasebe is their new manager, and he has a bit more of a defensive mindset. “They’re not abandoning their attack, which has always been the team’s strongest feature. But Yamada has been improving his defensive contributions, and his skills have been getting better on that front. “But on the other hand, there are maybe not as many of the opportunities that he’s used to or that he was used to last season to score. And, yeah, that’s the bottom line. But I think that the tools are still very much there in terms of what he has to contribute offensively. And he’s a great player.”

Daizen Maeda emerged as Celtic’s key man last season, scoring 33 goals and registering 11 assists across 51 appearances in all competitions. He completed a clean sweep at the club’s in- house end- of- season awards and was also named PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year.

Yamada likely won’t hit such dizzy heights in his maiden 12 months, but there are certain similarities between him and the man whose name has become synonymous with The Champs’ ‘Tequila’. “In some ways, it’s fair to say that he’s got a similar profile to Daizen Maeda, not fully,” Orlowitz continues.

“I think, you know, Daizen is this sort of amazing box-to-box runner who has probably the best stamina among any Japanese player in his prime right now. There’s a lot that’s similar in terms of profile, and I know that Maeda has been getting some attention from Premier League clubs and that sort of thing. So, Yamada is a potential successor to Maeda, a similar but different profile. He needs to develop some skills a bit more. Obviously, 25 is that point where it’s maybe not a question of developing raw talent, but just refining it further.

“Celtic is a surprise, but I think if you look at the success that Celtic have had with Japanese players and the success that Celtic have had scouting in the J- League, I think it’s a fair shout.

“I think that fans outside Japan are looking at the numbers and they’re getting concerned, but you have to look at his performance in the total context of what he’s contributing to the team. And so in that sense, yeah, it is a little bit of a surprise, but in context, it really shouldn’t be. I think that Celtic scouts know what they’re doing. They’re not looking at players who are going to sell shirts, they’re looking at players who are going to contribute.”

The acquisition that turned out to be perhaps Celtic’s finest from Japan in recent years was that of Furuhashi. As well as Maeda, he and Yamada share some traits. “I think that Kyogo is a bit more clever,” says Orlowitz. “I think that Yamada is bringing a bit more of a physical element.

“And I think that it’s sort of hard to do a one- to- one comparison here. Obviously, how Kyogo played under Ange [Postecoglou] is going to be different from how Yamada is deployed under Rodgers.

“It’s sort of the same thing like when [Reo] Hatate kind of got compared to Shunsuke [Nakamura]. I think that’s the default. And really, these guys all have their own things. But yeah, I think that overall, you know, Yamada’s strength is in the box. And I think that did help Kyogo a lot at Celtic.

“And it was also to Kyogo’s detriment with the national team, as that style just wasn’t how Japan played. And it was unfortunate that it wasn’t a match for his strength. So we’ll see how Yamada develops.”

DESPITE his heroic exploits during his three-and-a-half years in green and white, Furuhashi failed to establish himself as Japan’s starting No. 9. As Orlowitz hints towards, a combination of his own play style failing to match up with that of Samurai Blue boss Hajime Moriyasu led to international difficulties.

With regards to Yamada, he turned out for Japan for the first time in the recent East Asian Cup. He has already publicly stated his desire to earn a 2026 World Cup berth after getting a taste of playing for his country.

“If they were announcing the list of who’s going on the plane [to the 2026 World Cup] tomorrow, I would not have Yamada on it,” admits Orlowitz. “But, you know, a European season is a long time. I think he may need to look at, if he’s not getting on the plane to the States, maybe getting into the Asian Cup squad for 2027 and working his way towards 2030.

“We’re such a long way from where we were. Ten years ago, there were maybe 20 good Japanese players in Europe, there’s 100 now if you’re counting England, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, and Portugal.

“The fact that Japan’s A, B and C team are in Europe, the team that Yamada played on at the East Asian Cup this last week, you could call it a C minus or plus team, you could call it a C team, you could even call it a D team, not in terms of quality, but in that it represents how deep Japan’s player pool is. So I don’t see him close to the plane right now, but we’ll see how he gets on.”

Ange Postecoglou kick started Celtic’s Japanese revolution. When he departed for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023, it was expected that the club’s scouring of the Asian market would come to an abrupt end, and aside from the arrivals of Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu weeks after the Aussie’s exit, it did. Supporters and pundits alike have since debated whether the club should return to the Far East to pluck gems from obscurity. Two years on from when they last did, that is exactly what Celtic are attempting to do this summer.

“I think it makes perfect sense,” says Orlowitz. “I would rather they keep trying to go into the Japanese market than for them to say, ‘ Well, Ange was our guy who knew Asia, and he’s gone, so now we don’t really have to worry’.

“I think that shows the level of respect that Celtic have for the Japanese market in that they understand how good the players coming out of Japan are. I don’t necessarily think it’s like, well, they’re scouting in Japan because it’s Japan. I think they’re scouting in Japan because they know that Japan has amazing players.

“And they’re not necessarily going for, you know, the élite. Kyogo was the best Japanese player in the J-League when Celtic signed him. I think they’re going a bit deeper now. They’re picking sort of younger players.

“[Hayato] Inamura is in his first professional season. Yamada has got a few years on him, but he’s still relatively young. I think that the big issue with Japan is that a lot of players, especially players who go to university, they’re coming out of the university at 21, 22, and then starting their professional career. So again, you just have to understand the context.”

Orlowitz briefly alluded to Hayato Inamura, Celtic’s maiden Japanese arrival this summer. He was brought in from J-League strugglers Albirex Niigata, much to the surprise of many, in a deal said to be worth just £ 250,000.

Question marks were raised when Rodgers initially stated that he wouldn’t be part of the first team immediately. After impressing in a 45-minute showing against Cork City days after he arrived, though, the manager’s tune was soon altered. Rodgers went back on his first comments regarding Inamura following the friendly in Ireland, admitting that the 23- year-old had surprised him.

“I think that he’s definitely got the raw ingredients to be an amazing defender,” says Orlowitz. “And I think that, if you look at the national team, you have a lot of great players, but also [Takehiro] Tomiyasu has had his injury struggles. So if you’re looking at, especially centre-back positions, you’ve got Hiroki Ito, who is sort of the guy on the left. [Kota] Takai is setting up to be one of the centre- backs. There’s a lot of room to play in.

“Inamura is another player where if you were to ask me if he’s going to be on the plane [to the World Cup] next year, I’d say probably no, but he’s very young and he’s got a long career ahead of him.

“And I think that it shows a lot of guts that he’s taking this challenge on early. And I hope it’s the right move for him. I think that he’s got the potential to do really well in Europe. But, you know, I’ve seen a lot of times when you’re going to Europe with so little professional experience in the J-League, it does really depend on how your start goes.

“If you have a couple of slow seasons, that can just kind of hobble you and prevent you from reaching your full potential. So if Rodgers is changing his tune back quickly, hopefully that bodes well for the rest of the season.”

The proof will be in the pudding this time next year whether Celtic’s latest Japanese escapades bear fruit. So far, the club have a 50 per cent hit rate with signings from the land of the rising sun. Maeda, Furuhashi, and Hatate have proven to be successful acquisitions, but Tomoki Iwata, Yuki Kobayashi, and Yosuke Ideguchi ended up being anything but.

Inamura’s immediate future is an engrossing topic. He still has a wealth of room for development, and not much is expected of him in the coming months. Yamada, on the other hand, needs to hit the ground running.

Finding the net early in his Celtic tenure is a must for the striker to sweep aside question marks over his 2025 goalscoring record, which, regardless of Kawasaki’s recent change in play style, supporters have rightful concerns over.

Whatever happens, we’ll likely know by the new year whether Yamada can get near to the levels set by the likes of Furuhashi and Maeda, or fall by the wayside and ultimately turn out to be another failed Parkhead project.

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Tierney will not be trading off his name after return to Parkhead

Graeme McGarry Senior football writer

YOU did not have to be Nostradamus or even Mystic Meg to predict that Kieran Tierney would one day end up back at Celtic. But coming back to his boyhood heroes from Arsenal at this stage of his career, aged 28 and in his peak years? That may have caught out even the most optimistic of Celtic seers.

For Tierney though, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, if he did not come home now, he would not have wanted to come back at all. The fullback would have been welcomed to Celtic Park with open arms no matter how advanced the stage of his career was that he chose to return, but for him, it was important it was not his name alone that earned him his move back to his own personal Paradise.

He is not here to wind down his playing days, then, but to give his best years to the club that have given him so much throughout his life.

“I think that was another factor why I thought it was kind of, this will be now or never,” Tierney said.

“If I don’t come back now and I end up signing somewhere else, I wouldn’t want to come back at 33 or that and maybe I’m slowing owing down. I feel good just now. ow. I’m in a good place and I’m obviously still young g just now, so it’s good.

“I still have a lot to achieve, a lot to give. I’ll give it everything every day, as I always have wherever I’ve been. But it’s just that extra bit special l coming back here.

“I think honestly since I left, you’ve probably seen it yourself, every summer or every time I started not to play, it was always the rumour that I would be back. But it was something that was obviously hard to do at the time.

“But this time it was right, and it was easy to do as a free agent, so it was perfect.”

While Tierney may have been physically uncoupled from Celtic for the past six years, he has always maintained a strong connection to the club, clu despite the official line being that he hadn’t attended at a game at Celtic Park since leaving as a player. Though, he hinted h he may have gone incognito in in amongst his fellow fe fans.

“Well, you never know, I might have!” he said. “No, I didn’t get back up because we never had a weekend off where I could come. I went to Hampden for one of the semi- finals, but no, never back here.”

He has watched Celtic’s games religiously though from afar, which has now proven to be useful homework as he looks to build

relationships with his new teammates, one of whom in particular has blown him away since he arrived back at Lennoxtown. And as luck would have it, he normally will be stationed in front of him up the left-hand side.

“I think the one is Maeda,” he said. “You think, how can he run like that all the time? But he’s actually like that in training as well. Being away for six years, I’ve never seen anyone that can sprint like that, consistently sprint and press.

“And as a full- back, the amount of times that he helps you defensively as well. So far, I’ve only had a couple of games [ with him], but he’s a joy to play with, so I’d say he’s the one.

“Not that he’s surprised me because I watched him for years, but the fact that he’s so consistent in his sprints is incredible.

“You want any winger that you play with, or a centre- back or a centre- mid, the people around you

on the pitch, you want to build a connection on and off the park with them, so we’ll get there.

“But also, I’ve watched him play, so I know, even though he might never have seen me, I know how he plays.

“I know how him and Greg [ Taylor] worked, so I can take from that and learn as well – if I’m in this position, I’ve seen Greg do this kind of move. So, it’s not a brand new system to me.

“Some aspects are new and the role that I’m asked to play, but watching them for the last few years under the gaffer, I kind of know what he expects from his left- back as well.

“And when you play with somebody like that and you know their strengths as well, it is easy to play with. And so far, it’s been a joy.”

Tierney was as taken aback as anyone to see Maeda hammering out press- ups mind you after being subbed off during the win over Sporting in midweek, particularly

as he himself was rather shown up by the relentless work rate of his new team- mate.

“Me and Jamesy [ Forrest] were sitting on the bench having a recovery shake after, thinking how hot was that?” he said. “And he’s down there doing press- ups. He’s a machine. A total machine.”

For Tierney, back where he belongs, there is nothing but excitement for the future, both the immediate and the long term. Today, he will savour the opportunity to walk out at Celtic Park once more as the Scottish champions take on English giants Newcastle United in a friendly, a Celtic player again at long last.

“It will be a very special day,” he said. “It’ll be the first time I’ve been on the park for six years, so it’s a long time. That will be amazing.

“I’ll be a wee bit nervous, but excited and buzzing for it.”

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‘Rodgers won’t bother with the outside noise’

Graeme McGarry

KIERAN TIERNEY says that Brendan Rodgers being in the last year of his contract won’t be a distraction to either the Celtic manager or his players, and that the demands he is placing on his men to push for success is proof of his commitment to the club.

Tierney admits that the chance to work again with Rodgers was a major bonus in coming back to his boyhood club at this stage of his career, and he clearly would love the Celtic boss to hang around beyond the end of his current contract.

But he is also adamant that speculation over Rodgers’ future will have little impact on their collective drive for success this season.

“I don’t think he’ll bother too much about the kind of outside noise or that,” Tierney said. “He’ll just get on with his job because he knows he’s got a job to do, and as his players, we’ve got a job to do. And we need to do it to the best of our ability, and that takes hard work and commitment every single day, no days off and just being at it every day.

“I think with the captain that we’ve got, it’s perfect having Callum [McGregor] and the manager as well together. It’s a perfect combination.

“It’s amazing how much he actually works, and the effort he puts in. I think we’ve seen the benefits of it the other night [ in the friendly win over Sporting].

“I think we played really well, had some good passages of play against a top team. But it just shows you how passionate he is that you can still see him shouting and wanting more.

“And I think you need that if you are going to win trophies, you need to be 100 per cent, all the time. Pre-season friendly, whether it’s a Champions League qualifier, Scottish Cup, league, you need to be on it every single day, even in training. You need to be on it and the manager makes sure that we are.”

Rodgers hardly had to give Tierney the big sell to persuade him to come back to Celtic Park, but the left-back revealed he had a laugh when pictures surfaced of the pair locked in conversation at a Celtic FC Foundation event in London last year, sending his fellow supporters into meltdown.

“I knew these pictures would get out!” he said. “It’s massive [ the manager being here]. I’ve always kept in contact with him. He always texts me in the good times and the bad times through my career, gives me a phone call. And him and John Kennedy are the two people in football that I’ve looked up to most and I’m closest to.

“I’m buzzing to be back with the gaffer. I loved my time under him before. We were successful together. He got the best out of me and he’s a joy to work with, and I’m delighted to be back with him.”