Ange Postecoglou says you can lump Tomoki Iwata in with list of names who have been linked with Celtic in recent weeks - for now - as he repeated his "let's see what Santa brings" quip.
The Parkhead side are believed to be interested in Iwata who has been one of the standout midfielders in the J-League this season and his imminent arrival comes as Oliver Abildgaard looks set to leave the club early. Meanwhile Yosuke Ideguchi, who joined alongside Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate last January, is another who could be heading for the exit.
When asked on Christmas Eve about the Hoops' interest in Yokahama F. Marinos midfielder Iwata, he joked fans will just need to wait and see what Santa brings. But it seems he's running late as Postecoglou said ahead of Wednesday's clash with Hibs: "No, you can just add him to the list (of names). We'll see what Santa brings, mate."
The boss is also expecting a tough game against Lee Johnson's team as he heaped praise on the Hibs boss for sticking to his guns with his approach. They're looking for an incredible 13th straight league win at Easter Road but the Australian isn't expecting to have it easy.
He added: "It'll be a tough challenge, especially at their ground. Last year around January we drew there. It's a great stadium, it feels like a big game, and it'll be a good challenge.
"Lee's really determined to get them playing a certain way. I know it's not easy when you don't have the players who want to play that style, but with a couple more transfer windows, you can see what he's trying to do.
"They've got a couple of attacking threats particularly with Kevin Nisbet coming back. So it'll be a challenge for us, but we're in a good run of form, we're focused on ourselves and being the best team we can be, and that's what we're going to have to be." You can watch his press conference in full in the player above.
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