Just this morning, it looked as though Ange Postecoglou’s squad could potentially be missing Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi for next month’s Glasgow Derby fixture.
This was due to the Japanese FA announcing that players playing overseas would be handed a special exemption that would allow them to enter the country for up-and-coming World Cup qualifiers against China and Saudi Arabia (Read More).
However, just hours later, Celtic might have been handed a fresh boost that would see all four players available for crucial fixtures against Hearts and Rangers towards the end of this month.
As reported by the Glasgow Times due to the Covid-19 restrictions in Japan, the FA have been forced to call off a friendly fixture against Uzbekistan, just days before the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 tournament as the opposition are now not allowed to travel into the country.
This could put their up-and-coming qualifiers at risk of taking place, but also could impact European based players travelling into Japan.
It remains to be seen if any of the four Celtic players will be part of the Japanese national squad to take part in the crucial qualifying fixtures, with the final squad still to be announced. However, it does not seem as set in stone now, with these potential latest developments and another twist.
We will bring you more updates, as when they take place.
