Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has admitted that the Bhoys missed out on a deal for Brighton and Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma.
The Bhoys have made a host of top signings from Japanese football.
Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi have all made big impact since arriving from Japan.
Yosuke Ideguchi didn’t quite work out and it’s too soon to tell with Yuki Kobayashi and Tomoki Iwata right now.
Postecoglou’s knowledge of the Japanese game is strong having been in charge of Yokohama F. Marinos before his move to Glasgow.
Celtic will probably make more signings from Japan in the coming transfer windows, but one transfer miss lingers on Postecoglou’s mind.
Postecoglou has admitted to The Scottish Sun that he tried to sign winger Kaoru Mitoma for Celtic.
This was back in the summer of 2021, when Postecoglou has just become Celtic boss.
Postecoglou wanted to land Kyogo from Vissel Kobe and wide man Mitoma from Kawasaki Frontale in his first transfer window.
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However, a £2.5million move to Brighton was already in the works and Celtic weren’t able to land Mitoma.
After spending last season on loan at Brighton’s sister club Union Saint-Gilloise, Mitoma is now tearing it up in the Premier League.
The 25-year-old has bagged seven goals and three assists in 21 games this season, proving to be an absolute menace.
Mitoma has been so good that Arsenal wanted to sign him in January according to 90Min, with more interest surely imminent.
Postecoglou knew that Mitoma would be a ‘top player’ and felt he would have been an impressive signing for Celtic.
It wasn’t to be but Postecoglou did land Hatate, who actually broke into the same Kawasaki Frontale side as Mitoma.
“I tried to get him here but it was already almost done for him to go to Brighton. Him and Kyogo were the first two players I tried to bring across,” said Postecoglou. “Mitoma would have been a good signing but, unfortunately for us, Brighton also have a very good scouting network. They managed to pick him up and there was never any doubt in my mind that he was one who was going to be a top player. He has done really well down there, which hasn’t surprised me.”
“Reo got into professional football late after being at university, he didn’t make his debut until he was 21. He and Mitoma broke through at the same time. They were both outstanding from the first time they started playing,” he added.
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