Celtic target Shin Yamada is a striker worth keeping a close eye on

Something of a worrying development

But there is a worrying development on that front coming out of the J-League over the weekend. In Kawasaki’s last game, a narrow 1-0 loss to Tokyo Verdy, there was a noticeable shake-up in the starting XI — with Yamada, usually a mainstay, surprisingly left on the bench after going 13 games without scoring.

Thrown into the fray at half-time in a bid to turn the tide, the striker struggled to find his rhythm and, apparently offered little in the way of inspiration as Kawasaki laboured to break down a resolute Verdy defence. A frustrating night all round, and one that’ll no doubt leave Yamada itching to make amends.

Yamada is a striker worth keeping a close eye on

That may be enough for some to write Yamada off, but form is temporary, class is permanent they say, and Yamada is a striker worth keeping a close eye on.

For those of us willing to forgive a dry spell in front of goal, still intrigued this potential signing, and who don’t have the time to trawl through J-League match highlights, there hasn’t been much to go on, bar the odd YouTube Video, but the team over at Shogun Soccer Scouting have really gone in depth on the player, and I thought this might be worth sharing, with some good short video analysis also.

A mobile, intelligent forward

However, to summarise slightly – actually considerably – Yamada’s a product of the Kawasaki youth academy. A mobile, intelligent forward – and although the goals have been hard to come by this season – he chipped in with an impressive 19 goals last season – and perhaps crucially, he isn’t afraid to do the hard yards pressing from the front.

At 5 feet 11, he’s also a bit more, shall we say, robust than Kyogo

At 5 feet 11, he’s also a bit more, shall we say, robust than Kyogo. He’s two-footed, has a decent leap on him, and knows where the net is – despite going through the sort of goalscoring drought every striker dreads – and possibly the kind of player that’s tailor-made for Brendan Rodgers’ high-press, high-intensity approach.

Celtic’s scouting in Japan has been pretty good in recent years, with arguably an above 50% strike rate – that magical figure Alex Ferguson always said was the number to hit for a successful recruitment strategy.

Celtic could be picking up a real prospect at a bargain price of £1.5 million

Yamada has only 18 months left on his contract, so we could be picking up a real prospect at a bargain price – reportedly around £1.5 million. For comparison we could go back for Kyogo who is apparently available from Rennes for £5m.

When asked about the Celtic links previously, Yamada didn’t pour cold water on it. Instead, he dodged the question entirely – which in football-speak often means there is something going on and the player thinks it is best not to meet the rumours head on.

We may see one or two players leave this summer. And with some question marks remaining over Daizen Maeda’s future becoming more concerning by the day, Yamada could at the very least some succession planning, perhaps more.

With Japan’s season in full flight, I’m not sure if this deal would necessarily happen this summer, but there is a break in the season in July, and if not the J-League season ends in November, before staring up again in March.

So much like that triple signing in Ange’s first season, January may be the time that suits Kawasaki Frontale and perhaps even the player. But given left sided defender Hayato Inamura looks Celtic bound in the coming days, don’t write off Shin Yamada following suit.

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