Celtic have announced the signing of striker Shin Yamada from Japanese J1 League side Kawasaki Frontale, subject to international clearance.
The 25-year-old has put pen to paper on a four-year contract and moves to Glasgow for a reported £1.5m.
Yamada will wear the No.18 shirt and becomes Brendan Rodgers’s sixth signing of the summer transfer window after Japanese compatriot Hyato Inamura, Kieran Tierney, Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmand and Ross Doohan.
“It is a huge honour for me to be here as a Celtic player and I can’t wait to begin my time at this amazing club,” Yamada told the club’s official website.
“Celtic is one of the top names in world football. I have already watched my countrymen like Daizen [Maeda], Reo [Hatate] and Kyogo [Furuhashi] do so well at Celtic and I will aim to have the same impact.
“I am my own player, though, and I am ready to face all my own challenges directly.
“I want to do so well at Celtic, I know that Celtic Park is one of the best places in the world to play football with the best supporters around and I will do everything I can to make my new fans proud of me.
“I promise I will give everything I have to bring our fans success.”
Rodgers added: “I am really pleased that we have brought Shin to the club. He is a strong player who can score goals and create goals for others and I think he is someone who can definitely add an important dimension to our forward line.
“I know he is really keen to make his mark here in European football and deliver for Celtic and I think he is someone who has the power, athleticism and intensity in his play to do really well for us. I look forward to working with him.”
Who is Celtic’s new signing Shin Yamada?
Born in Yokohama, Yamada began his college career with Toin University of Yokohama where he spent three years before being named as a designated player for Kawasaki Frontale ahead of the 2022 season.
Yamada, known for making smart runs in behind defenders and instinctive finishing inside the box, won the Japanese Super Cup in 2024 with Frontale, who finished the J1 League campaign in eighth spot.
The forward scored a total of 32 goals in 121 appearances for Frontale and said a public goodbye to the club’s supporters after Wednesday’s Emperor’s Cup home defeat to SC Sagamihara.
Capped by Japan for first time this year, Yamada leaves Frontale sitting sixth in the J1 League table after 23 games, having scored twice in his 21 outings this term, and he is now preparing for a fresh challenge in Scotland with Premiership champions Celtic.
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