Kieran Tierney admits Arsenal star Takehiro Tomiyasu has been giving him the inside track on Celtic's influx of J-League stars.
Ange Postecoglou knows the market very well and in his time at the Hoops has brought in Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Yuki Kobayashi, Tomoki Iwata and Yosuke Ideguchi. Across the board the signings have proved to be largely successful for the Scottish champions. The Far East arrivals may not be familiar to the Celtic diehard, but his Gunners team-mate has been on hand to provide the lowdown.
The Scotland international has even tried to make his pal a Celtic fan by admitting that he will sit and watch his boyhood team in action with Tomiyasu if there is ever a match on while they are at the training ground. It's been a hugely successful season to date on the park for Arsenal with Mikel Arteta's men leading the English Premier League. It's not been ideal for KT on a personal level with reports circulating over his future at the Emirates with game-time proving hard to come by.
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Speaking to the Scottish Sun, the ex-Celtic star said: “I speak to Tomi a lot. I didn’t know much about the boys who came in from Japan before and it’s the same with the two signed over the last month.
“I don’t see the J-League and so I’ve been asking Tomi for info and his thoughts on them as players. Daizen Maeda was with Tomi in the Japan squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
“Tomi’s been very positive about all the boys signed and that’s been good to hear. He’s a great player himself and an excellent team-mate. He’s good company.
“I’m always speaking to Tomi and if ever there’s a Celtic game on at the training ground he sits and watches it with me. I’ve tried to make him a Celtic fan!
“It’s funny, but Tomi’s seen that old video of me being presented with boots by Shunsuke Nakamura when I was just a kid at Celtic. He was aware of it a long time ago.
“Nakamura was one of Tomi’s heroes growing up, but that goes for so many of the Japanese players all over the world.”
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