SHIN YAMADA, HAYATO INAMURA: WHAT THE S*N DIDN’T TELL CELTIC FANS
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
I’ve already had to call out the Daily Record today for their erroneous reporting, perhaps the hacks over at The S*n thought I might give them a day off?
Sorry boys, no such luck. The rag that calls itself a newspaper continues to bask in the reflective glory of the “exclusive” they ran regarding Celtic’s interest in Kawasaki Frontale striker Shin Yamada.
The reality is this move was rumored in Japan for a while before The S*n decided to pick it up, but then again, honesty never was their strength.
However, less than a day later, they shot themselves in the foot yet again, with their fast-food, google-translate dependent, approach to journalism.
The S*n Fails to Mention Key Reason Why Shin Yamada, Hayato Inamura Remain Silent on Celtic Moves
I touched on this point already in my previous reporting on Celtic’s interest in Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura, but I think it bears repeating, since clearly The S*n didn't bother with the two minutes of research it would have taken to find this out.
The S*n chose to run the following incendiary headline today regarding Yamada: “Celtic target Shin Yamada DODGES question after being quizzed on Hoops interest as links intensify”.
Yamada didn't dodge anything. He gave what was the only professional answer to the question he was asked, at this time, in his current position. If The S*n bothered to look into how mid-season transfers in The J-League work, then this would have been obvious. It's the same for Shin Yamada, Hayato Inamura and indeed any other Japanese players Celtic may pursue at this time of year.
Yamada was asked in an interview yesterday about the possibility of going to Celtic. He said in response: Right now, I just want to do my best in the next game.”
As I mentioned previously, if Yamada and his Japanese compatriot Hayato Inamura do, indeed, move to Celtic this summer, it won’t be until the J-League enters its summer break.
The J-League season runs from March until November, so the two-week break at the beginning of July is, roughly speaking, analogous to the winter break we used to have in Scotland.
Coming just a few weeks before the beginning of the new season for most European clubs, this is also when most J-League players looking to move to Europe ahead of the new season, do so.
This means they'll still get some kind of preseason training with their new teammates and it also gives the Japanese club a bit of breathing space in terms of sourcing a replacement before the league campaign resumes.
More recently, this has also provided a window for European clubs to play pre-season friendly matches in Japan, as Celtic did in 2023.
Anyway, to sum up, this is why Yamada wouldn't mention Celtic in his interview yesterday. It’s not him being “tight-lipped” or “giving nothing away”, he is simply giving his current employer their due respect.
A lot of players will leave Japan in July, and two of those may well be Yamada and Inamura coming to Celtic. However, nothing official will be confirmed until then.
Yes, I have the benefit of living in Japan and knowing how this all works, but it’s not exactly rocket science.
A simple check of the J-League fixture calendar, which is available in English on their homepage, would have cleared all this up.
However, as usual, The S*n don’t care about facts, only about grabbing the increasingly short attention spans of their ever dwindling readership.
Yamada may join Celtic or he may not. I believe it's more likely that he will. However, nothing will be confirmed officially until around the time Kawasaki Frontale play their final game before the mid-season break on Saturday, July 5th.
An announcement a day or two beforehand is possible, to give the player a chance to say thank you and goodbye to the Kawasaki Frontale supporters at that final game.
Vissel Kobe did this for Kyogo back in 2021. I expect something similar if the Yamada and Inamura deals go through.
