Brendan Rodgers has announced that Shin Yamada is on his way to Celtic, but he has made it clear that he still wants more up top.
The Japanese forward is expected in Glasgow within 24 hours for a medical ahead of a £1.3 million move from Kawasaki Frontale. While Rodgers will assess the 23-year-old in the coming days, he made no secret of his desire to bring in more attacking alternatives before the transfer window closes.
“He’ll have a medical in the next few days, and we’ll take a look at him,” Rodgers told SunSport. “We’ve lost a lot of goals, and we need to replace them. Hopefully, this will be one of several players we can bring in that area.”
Yamada is seen internally as a developing player with immediate impact, but Rodgers’ comments had the tone of a manager who was not necessarily the driving factor for this particular transaction.
“He has intensity and workrate. It’s something the scouts have noticed,” Rodgers explained. “In terms of the club, we will bring in players to develop as well as current players. Even if he is a little older, he is most likely capable of providing us with such intensity and pressure.
“I need to see him when he comes in, and hopefully he will perform well. “The idea was to bring him in and evaluate him.”
Rodgers made it clearly obvious that Yamada is only part of the solution, not the full piece. “He’s a strong boy – but we’d want to add to our front line also.”
The comments come after Celtic’s 2-0 pre-season success over Sporting in Portugal, in which Rodgers watched his side look slick in sections but obviously believes a greater clinical threat is needed. Adam Idah is our main striker, and Callum Osmand joined in the summer, but it’s evident the boss doesn’t believe the firepower is enough to replace what was lost.
With Celtic facing Newcastle this weekend before heading to Italy for the Como Cup, Rodgers will take the next fortnight to examine what Yamada has to give — but he will not wait long to push the board for another accomplished striker.
The manager’s message is clear: reinforcements are on their way, and Yamada alone will not meet Celtic Park’s goal-scoring needs.
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