SHIN YAMADA: CELTIC PURSUE ANOTHER JAPANESE STRIKER
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 19 minutes ago
- 4 min read
As I’ve often said, the media in Japan works a little differently from what we are used to in Scotland.
The kind of baseless speculation we see in The S*n, The Daily Record and others every day, would quickly get you fired from any proper newspaper in Japan.
Of course, this has its problems too, investigative journalism in Japan lags behind many other nations, especially investigations into politics and corruption. Such is the conservative and cautious nature of reporting here.
Publishers are terrified of the reputational damage that comes with writing something that then doesn't pan out or that can’t be conclusively proven.
However, for football reporting, the notion of “we don’t run it until we are absolutely sure” works pretty well.
So, when I read on a couple of different Japanese football news sites this morning that Celtic are weighing up a move for another promising J-League prospect, I actually believed there may be some truth to it.
Checking other sites that I trust turned up similar results. So, I think this warrants a bit more exploration.
Who is Shin Yamada? Celtic’s latest J-League Link
First of all it’s important that we debunk some of the more sensational aspects of this story. There is no imminent move by Celtic to sign Yamada at the time of writing (2pm on Sunday afternoon here in Japan).
According to numerous sources though, we are at the stage where the player has been scouted by Celtic on a number of occasions and a fee is being negotiated.
The amount differs slightly depending on the source, however, it is in the region of 290-300 million Japanese yen, which equates to 1.5 to £1.6 million going by today’s exchange rate.
I’d say that’s pretty good for the main striker at one of Japan’s top clubs, who came 3rd in the J-1 goal rankings last season.
This kind of fee is common in the J-League especially for a player like Yamada who hasn't, as of yet, played outside Japan. We signed Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate for similar fees, and both of them were at a similar stage in their development to Yamada’s current situation.
An initial look at Shin Yamada’s stats might raise a few alarm bells, until you factor in the unique quirks of how player development in Japan works.
He’s 25 years old, but is only in his 3rd season as a full-time professional footballer. He’s only played 65 games for his current club Kawasaki Frontale.
On closer inspection though, you’ll see that he's actually been on the books of Kawasaki Frontale since 2018, despite not making his first team debut until 2022.
The main reason for this: university.
Although contracted to Kawasaki Frontale, Yamada actually played for Toin University’s football team from 2019 to 2022 while he completed his degree there.
Again, this is normal in Japan and is also why Reo Hatate had such a relatively low number of first team appearances when Celtic signed him, also from Kawasaki.
So, I would encourage everyone not to be put off by his seeming lack of game time for a 25 year old player.
His overall total of 23 goals in 65 games is a decent return for a striker playing in a team who haven't quite hit their usual heights over the past few seasons.
Despite his seemingly slight figure, standing at only 5”9, Yamada is noted for his physicality, and certainly doesn't shirk away from the rougher side of the game.
Obvious comparisons will be made to Kyogo, and honestly, Yamada isn't at that level, yet.
He could be though, the potential is definitely there. As I said before, our hit rate from Japan is about 50/50 at the moment. For every Daizen and Kyogo, there’s an Ideguchi and a Kobayashi.
However for Shin Yamada, Celtic would be the perfect move at this time. It's the perfect platform for him to develop, and to test himself at the next level.
This is a risk, to be sure, but given the paltry sum involved, much like Hayato Inamura, I think Yamada would be a worthwhile investment, and is definitely “worth a punt” as they say.
I don’t think he’s on Kyogo’s level ability wise at the moment, but his stats and the level at which he currently plays is very similar to where Kyogo was when he came to Celtic back in 2021.
In the meantime though, whatever happens, expect things to go quiet on this deal for the next 10 days or so.
Much like our protracted move for the aforementioned Inamura, I expect Kawasaki will want to wait until the J-League mid-season break begins on July 4th before officially letting Yamada or any of their other star players go.
This is still very much “wait and see”, but I think this would be a good move for all parties, if it goes ahead.