Yosuke Ideguchi Celtic transfer exit fee revealed as midfielder leads January clearout

Yosuke Ideguchi Celtic transfer exit fee revealed as midfielder leads January clearout

The Japan international has been subject of huge interest back in his homeland

Celtic have reportedly agreed a £870,000 deal to sell forgotten midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi.

The Japan international has spent the last 12 months back in his homeland on loan with Avispa Fukuoka, where he won the Japanese League Cup. Ideguchi even earned a Player of the Year nomination after helping his loan club to their highest-ever J1 League finish.

That sparked big interest in his services, with Avispa Fukuoka and Vissel Kobe battling to sign him.

However, multiple reports in Japan state that Vissel Kobe have won the race for his signature and Ideguchi’s transfer will be made official on January 15 when the J1 League window opens. And it will see Celtic recoup the £850k they shelled out to bring him from Gamba Osaka in January 2021.

The 27-year-old defensive midfielder made just six appearances for the Hoops, and his only start came in a 2-1 Scottish Cup win away to Alloa. Ideguchi is among a string of fringe men who have been deemed surplus to requirements by Brendan Rodgers as the Scottish champions kickstart their January clearout.

Ben Siegrist, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Yuki Kobayashi, Alexandro Bernabei, James McCarthy, Kwon, Marco Tilio and Mikey Johnston are among the players likely to leave either permanently or on loan next month, while Nat Phillips will return to Liverpool.

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Celtic squad trim begins as Bhoys accept transfer offer

Brendan Rodgers and Celtic are expected to trim several fringe players from the Bhoys squad in the upcoming transfer window.

The Bhoys boss has admitted his playing group is too large and that he wants to reduce overall first-team numbers to around 25 across January and next summer.

Work is already underway and, in fact, the first confirmed exit could come quickly.

The Daily Record reports that Celtic have agreed on a £870,000 fee with Vissel Kobe in Japan to sell midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi, calling time on his ill-fated move to the Bhoys.

Ideguchi arrived in the same transfer window as Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda during the Ange Postecoglou reign but struggled to make the same impact as his compatriots.

The midfielder picked up an unfortunate injury in a Scottish Cup shortly after joining the Hoops and went on to make just six appearances in total.

He joined Avispa Fukuoka on loan for the 2023 J-League season and impressed in his 32 appearances, even earning a Player of the Year nomination.

Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

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Now it appears that Vissel Kobe have won the race for his signature and will allow Celtic to recoup the fee paid for him in the first place.

The J-League transfer window officially opens in mid-January ahead of their 2024 campaign so expect to hear official confirmation of his permanent transfer over the next couple of weeks.

There are plenty of other big contenders to leave the Bhoys next month too as Rodgers looks to shift players who aren’t currently contributing significantly.

Hopefully, it frees up space to bring in the ‘quality’ that the Celtic manager desires.

The Celtic January transfer rumour mill has thrown the name of Wolverhampton Wanderers forward, Fabio Silva into the hat.

The 21-year-old was once a £35.6 million club-record transfer for Wolves, but now he is struggling to come off the bench for the bottom-half English Premier League side.

With Brendan Rodgers wanting attacking reinforcements next month at Celtic, the name of Fabio Silva has been mentioned, as reported by TEAMtalk.

Andy Walker has shared that in Brendan Rodgers’ first spell at Celtic, the one-time wonderkid was linked with the club, as he told Go Radio.

But given his struggles at Wolves, it now seems like he will be heading for the exit door in January.

Celtic return, Hamish says goodbye and the future of 67 Hail Hail

With Brendan Rodgers wanting attacking reinforcements next month at Celtic, the name of Fabio Silva has been mentioned, as reported by TEAMtalk.

Andy Walker has shared that in Brendan Rodgers’ first spell at Celtic, the one-time wonderkid was linked with the club, as he told Go Radio.

But given his struggles at Wolves, it now seems like he will be heading for the exit door in January.

Given the huge sum of money Wolves paid for Fabio Silva, and the fact that his contract runs until 2026, then there’s no chance of a permanent move to Celtic.

But never rule out a loan deal, with Andy Walker talking about how the versatile forward has ‘skill’ and ‘ability’ in his game.

Celtic’s transfer links with Wolves’ Fabio Silva

“He was on Celtic’s radar a number of years ago,” said Walker. “I remember doing a game down south and he was playing for Wolves. They were all talking about the interest from Celtic.

Approach made: Celtic ask about move to sign “highly talented” £15M striker, they’ ve had a reply

The Scottish Premiership side are looking to bolster their attacking ranks in January.

Celtic have made an approach to ask about a deal to bring one of their long-term targets to the Scottish Premiership, according to a fresh report that has emerged.

Hoops eyeing Kvistgaarden

Ahead of January, Brendan Rodgers will be assessing his options in the market to see if there are any players he could strengthen his squad with. One recently identified is Brondby forward Mathias Kvistgaarden if claims are to be believed.

The Bhoys are reportedly preparing an improved offer for the striker having seen their opening bid turned down over the summer, but should a deal for him fail to come to fruition for whatever reason, the hierarchy appear to have alternative centre-forward targets.

Sturm Graz’s Szymon Wlodarczyk only put pen to paper at his club during the previous window from Gornik Zabrze where he’s so far made 28 appearances to date (Transfermarkt – Wlodarczyk statistics), but he was on the board’s radar long before his most recent move.

Back in January, Mark Hendry first claimed that Poland’s youth international was of interest to the green and white stripes, though a switch hasn’t yet taken place, hence why he moved elsewhere, and it still sounds like the 20-year-old won’t be making the trip to Glasgow anytime soon despite new efforts.

Celtic submit enquiry for Wlodarczyk

According to Football Scotland, Celtic have asked about signing Wlodarczyk again next month, but after learning his price tag in a response from Sturm Graz, have decided that they couldn’t afford to complete a deal in January.

“Football Scotland can also reveal Celtic reached out to Sturm Graz in an effort to revisit another former transfer target, Szymon Wlodarczyk, but were told his valuation has sky-rocketed to around £15m which would financially be out of their reach in January.”

Wlodarczyk is a “highly talented” striker

Since joining Sturm Graz, Wlodarczyk has racked up 11 contributions (nine goals and two assists) from 28 appearances, displaying how prolific he can be in the final third, and he’s able to pose a constant threat to the opposition’s defence in the attacking areas of the pitch.

Sponsored by Adidas, Walbrzych’s native has recorded 32 shots over the course of the current campaign which is more than any other of his fellow teammates, highlighting what a standout performer he is in front of the net compared to his peers (FBRef – Sturm Graz statistics).

Standing at 6 foot 2, Rodgers’ target is also able to provide a real physical presence up top with his height, with his ability to win aerial duels making him a real handful for any backline to deal with, alongside how dangerous he can be with the ball at his feet.

Described by football scout Jacek Kulig, Wlodarczyk is a “highly talented” player with an extremely bright future ahead of him, but with Celtic not set to splash the cash to get their long-term target in the coming weeks, it could prove to be a blow considering the positive impact that he may have been able to make.

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Chloe is an experienced football journalist and podcaster having worked in the sports media industry for the past three years.

Combining her love of the beautiful game with a passion for writing, Chloe started out creating and editing articles for Our MFC before going on to cover the Euro 2020 tournament with Overtime Sports Online.

In March 2022, Chloe was selected to join the academy team at Snack Media and later secured the role of freelance writer for The Transfer Tavern before moving over to the company’s flagship site, Football FanCast.

Chloe is also a huge Stoke City supporter having been a season ticket holder at the Bet365 Stadium for over a decade.