It's common knowledge that Yokohama Marinos have been courting Celtic's midfield jewel for the past year, and some observers even thought they would get their man during the January transfer window, but the J-League club have stated today that they hope to convince Naka to return to Japan at the end of this campaign. "We have made an offer to Nakamura and Celtic to acquire him," said a spokesman for Marinos. "We would like to begin negotiations as soon as possible so that we can bring good news to his fans in Japan."
Masaharu Saito, the president of Yokohama Marinos, reiterated that the J-League club is hoping to tie up a deal quickly and speaking to the Nikkei business daily he said of the latest offer. "I believe he can accept our sincerity."
Celtic activated the twelve-month extension clause in Naka's contract last summer following his huge contribution to the club over the previous three years and the news of this concrete approach will disappoint the Japanese maestro's huge army of fans who have been hoping against hope that Celtic could persuade him to stay another year in Glasgow.
It's hard to believe that almost four years have passed since Celtic signed him from Italian club Reggina but the brilliant yet humble Japanese star will become a free agent in June and if he does decide to return to Japan for personal reasons then he will depart from Glasgow with the best wishes and grateful thanks of the Celtic support. It goes without saying that we hope that if he does go then he'll depart with yet another SPL winners medal in his back pocket.