TAKEHIRO TOMIYASU: CELTIC’S READY MADE ALISTAIR JOHNSTON BACK-UP?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Sep 3
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 4
So, Celtic finally got a striker in, albeit one of questionable fitness, questionable recent form, and perhaps most worryingly of all, questionable attitude. He did previously turn us down for the dazzling lights, glitz and glamor of, erm, Middlesborough back in January.
However, Kelechi Iheanacho is a Celt now, and for as long as that’s the case, he has my full support. I hope he can prove the doubters wrong.
Amidst the clamor to find strikers and wingers over the past week or so, another problem position appears to have slipped under Celtic’s radar: right back
Now, Alistair Johnston is, in my opinion, the best right back Celtic have had for many years. In fact, he’s one of my favorite players. But he’s probably going to be out for the next three months.
Antony Ralston is another player I love for his whole-hearted, no-nonsense approach to the game. He also hits a pretty decent cross from time to time as well. But what if Ralston gets injured? We could do with back up.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: Celtic’s Next EPL Rejuvenation Project?
Enter Takehiro Tomiyasu: Celtic fans will probably think “oh yeah, just what we need another guy with long term injury issues”.
However, before you dismiss this idea as yet more inane ramblings from the halfwit that is my good self, just think for a second.
Tomiyasu is a free agent, and I think, even with his recent injury record, he is probably still the best right back Celtic could possibly sign before January. He likes to get forward and support the attack. He’ll have some kind of an understanding with Kieran Tierney from the albeit limited game time they had together at Arsenal.
Most of all he’s a player who, having been cut adrift from the EPL, much like many past Celtic players, he needs a platform to rebuild his career. Tomiyasu turns 27 in November, and is still young enough to get his career back on track. Celtic have a decent record of taking players like him, who have shown they can do it at the highest level before falling on hard times, and reinvigorating them.
Worst case scenario, we’ll get excellent cover at right back until Johnston is back, and we could almost certainly move him on for a decent profit next summer if we can just get him fit and playing again.
I know the phrase “he’s worth a punt” is probably one that most Celtic fans are sick of hearing by now. But I think this is one case where such thinking still holds up.
Tomiyasu is a top-class player, and Celtic could certainly use a few of those right now. We’d need another few weeks to get him fit, after all, the Japanese international has been without a club since July, but his prognosis is good, if we can give him the base he needs to build himself up again.
And who knows, another familiar face in the building might just convince the likes of Daizen Maeda to stick around beyond January after all.
