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Fullname: Kobayashi Yuki
aka: Yuki Kobayashi, Kobayashi Yūki
Born: 18 July 2000
Birthplace: Hyogo, Japan
Signed: 23 November 2022 (from Yokohama Marinos)
Left: 21 August 2024 (to Portimonense (Portugal), (est £1m (undisclosed))
Position: Centre-half, Central Defender
Debut: Celtic 4-0 St Mirren, SP, 18 Jan 2023
Squad No.: 18
Internationals: […]
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]
Biog
The young Japanese player Kobayashi arrived in December 2022, just as the World Cup in Qatar was underway which saw fellow Celtic player Maeda in fine form, one for Kobayashi to emulate. After the success of the Japanese contingent at Celtic in the past 18 months, and the increased reputation following the recent World Cup of the Japanese football league, there were higher expectations for Kobayashi than when his predecessors had arrived.
A surprise signing as there were already 3-4 centre-halves in contention for places, and in retrospect, shows his move was a gamble more so for him than for Celtic.
A tall centre-half, the initial reports were optimistic, and many felt that given time he could learn from his team mates to settle in, develop and make a name alongside the myriad of quality Far East players Celtic currently had on their books.
Ange Postcoglou era
He was initially eased into the first team with a few appearances, and even won a man of the match award in his debut match with Celtic winning 4-0 v St Mirren in January 2023. He’d had a decent run, with Celtic winning comfortably across all the games and conceding little, but Celtic were already on a role and were unarguably head & shoulders above all the others under Postecoglou.
However, once Carter Vickers was out for surgery, Kobayashi was thrown in at the deep end to partner Starfelt. He came badly unstuck in a reshuffled Celtic first team losing 3-0 to Sevco at Ibrox in May 2023, and was deemed at fault for two of the goals, albeit the game was a dead rubber match as the league was already won.
The match v Sevco was one in which a Celtic reserve side with a reserve level performance was given which explains the scoreline, but it unfairly dented confidence in Kobayshi.
After the defeat to Sevco, he was then played in the season tail-end game v Hibs which Celtic lost 4-2 (May 2023), in a terrible performance, overshadowed mostly by Scott Bain’s poor performance in goals. Admittedly, it was again a side with a number of reserve players and also first team players winding down having already sealed the title, but it was an opportunity for the second string players to prove themselves, and Kobyashi like others disappointed. He still had to settle in, but competition was tough at Celtic. There was a certain lack of physicality when Kobayashi was playing in defence, a big issue when playing in the European leagues. He was still young and time was still on his hands, but few were convinced in him.
Brendan Rodgers era
The arrival of Narowski in the summer transfer window in 2023 effectively signalled the end for Kobayashi. His struggles to prove himself in the last season meant he was really pushed back in the queue for a first team place.
Following the very unexpected good form of Scales and the long-term hopes for highly rated Lagerbielke (which actually ended little better than Kobayashi’s time), Kobayashi unsurprisingly lost out in a bloated squad. Even with a slew of injuries that occurred, he was not called upon by Rodgers. A cruel blow was being excluded from the Champions League group squad.
It was being reported that if it wasn’t for an injury he’d have moved back already to Japan in the last summer, and in retrospect for his own career he should have been transferred on rather than having lost a season at Celtic being unplayed for the whole season.
Yuki Kobayashi joined Portuguese side Portimonense on a four year permanent deal in August 2024. He had not featured at all in the last season for Celtic or even in the summer friendlies that followed, so moving on was the right move for himself.
After the incredible success of the first wave of Japanese players at Celtic, the following second wave of transfers in from the Far East sadly had not made the same impact. So Kobayashi was not alone. The departure of Postecoglou likely hit their chances, as even players like Hatate and Kyogo were not as well suited to the new format and demands from Rodgers as compared to the system in place under Postcoglou.
Some even argued that the struggle that Rodgers had with even the established players from the Far East to adapt to his new on-field methods, negatively impacted on others trying to win opportunities to the first team (like Kobayashi). On the other hand, Maeda had adapted very well, whilst Iwata and Yang did get plenty of opportunities. So it wasn’t all so black & white, and in truth, throughout his managerial career to date, defences have often been a weakness for Rodgers.
We wished him all the best.
Post-Celtic
[…]
Quotes
“I’m off to Celtic! I will do my best!”
Yuki Kobayashi (2022)
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2022-23 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Pictures
Forums
Notes
- It is customary in the Far East for surnames to come first, so Kobayashi is his surname, but in Asian articles you will see his name written as Kobayashi Yuki.
Articles
Yuki Kobayashi: Celtic sign Japanese defender on five-year deal
Yuki Kobayashi: Celtic sign Japanese defender on five-year deal – BBC Sport
Yuki Kobayashi
Yuki Kobayashi will be available for Celtic from January
Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi has agreed to join Celtic from Vissel Kobe on a five-year contract.
Kobayashi, 22, has represented his country at under-20 level and joins countrymen Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda at the Scottish champions.
He will join the squad on 1 December and be registered to play in January.
“I know that Celtic over so many years has such a brilliant track record of success,” centre-back Kobayashi said.
“And I now want to play my part in bringing more great moments to the club and our fans.”
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou previously worked in Japan with Yokohama F Marinos and Kobayashi commented: “I can’t wait to work with him as a coach and the great team of players he has already developed.
“I would like to thank Vissel Kobe sincerely for all the support that has been given to me in the early part of my career and now I look forward to embracing this exciting new challenge with Celtic, one of the world’s great football clubs.”
And Postecoglou said: “Yuki is someone that we’ve been following for a while and it was a great opportunity to bring him in. He’s a left-sided centre-back, and they’re hard to find.”