SHUNSUKE NAKAMURA has dropped a bombshell on Celtic by ordering his legal team to produce evidence of a shock contract clause that will let him quit for a bargain £1million.
The 29-year-old midfielder, preparing to represent Japan at this summer's Asian Cup, believes there is a loophole in his deal that will allow interested clubs to snap him up for a fraction of his real value.
He has legal eagles going through the smallprint with a fine-toothed comb and the news he could be available for a cut-price fee has been noted by a number of top clubs across the continent.
Premiership outfit Tottenham Hotspur have been tracking Nakamura for months, but there is also interest in Scotland's Player of the Year from Italy and Spain.
Nakamura's Italian-based lawyer and representative Angelo Massone last night told Express Sport: "I think the clause is there, but there are lawyers studying the contract at the moment.
"We should have a conclusion within the next day or so and things will become clearer then."
Nakamura's current deal has a year to run with a 12-month option, but it is understood he is by no means one of the highest-paid players at the club despite his heroics both at home and in the Champions League last term.
He is reported to earn approximately £20,000-a-week, considerably less than big-money flop Thomas Gravesen and new £3million Italian midfielder Massimo Donati.
Should Nakamura's agents nail down this £1million clause in black-and-white, it would blow his current agreement apart and leave Celts with the stark choice of giving him a hefty wage hike or seeing him walk away on the cheap.
Worrying times if this is true
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt