Celtic has done reasonably well shopping in Japan. There is reason for optimism here.

Of all the markets Celtic have explored in the past decade, few have yielded such sterling results as our ventures into Japan. But let’s not kid ourselves—it’s not just about the three headline-grabbing success stories. We’ve actually signed six players from the J-League. Not all of them have hit the heights. Ideguchi, Iwata and Kobayashi were not nearly as successful as Maeda, Kyogo and Hatate.

That’s not to say they were poor signings.

Iwata, in particular, might’ve offered something had he stayed longer. But let’s not get carried away here. What we’re looking at is an effective 50% strike rate—still; in the world of football transfers, that’s better than most.

Still, I temper my enthusiasm because, well, I’ve run the numbers, but the suggestion that we’re now back in Japan looking at a defender and a striker isn’t, in itself, a cause for concern.

The defender sounds like a raw project. The striker, though… the striker sounds a lot more like what we’re after. Considering that two of our three big success stories from Japan have played in that position, adding another wouldn’t hurt one bit.

Of course, only one of these stories has any real weight at the moment. Our interest in the defender is confirmed—his club has said he’s in talks with a European side, and every reputable source points to us.

The striker is a different matter. That rumour has only surfaced in the last 24 hours. If it turns out to be genuine, all the better—because we need a striker. And if he’s already played with some of our squad? That can only help.

There’s nothing wrong with returning to markets where we’ve had joy. The trick is making sure we’re doing it for the right reasons—and not just because we’ve run out of ideas elsewhere. We also need to be wary of falling into the trap of thinking Japan automatically represents a “value market”, where players can be picked up for peanuts. Because value, real value, is only found when a player has been scouted thoroughly, fits the manager’s system, and comes in and does a job.

Paying £200,000 for a player might sound like good value—but if he’s not up to it, that’s £200,000 wasted. You try telling someone at Celtic that the £1 million we shelled out for Kwon was a harmless gamble because it was cheap. That logic doesn’t fly in the real world. If every business operated like that, most of them would be bankrupt.

Already I’ve seen some online suggesting the striker we’re linked with isn’t good enough—that he doesn’t score enough goals to justify the move. That might be true. Then again, it might not. It’s not just about how many goals a guy has scored—it’s about how many he can score, given the right system and the right support around him. If Rodgers has watched this lad and believes he’s got what it takes to be a regular goalscorer, then that’s good enough for me.

Because there are things beyond the basic stats that matter. Good managers understand this. They know a player might not be scoring because he’s playing in a system that doesn’t suit him. For all we know, this guy finishes one in every two chances he actually gets—we just don’t have the data. But I’ll bet Rodgers does.

So yes, Japan is still a good place to shop. It’s worked for us before. But if we’re only going back there because it’s worked, that’s a gamble. Still, our record for finding goalscorers in Japan is two out of two—and that suggests that the league is of a good enough standard, and the players adaptable enough, to perform here and in Europe. It’s worth a look. If the price is right, then even better. But remember—the price is only right if the player does the business when he gets here.

The key thing is, we’re active. We’re busy. We’re out there looking. And while these might not be the blockbuster signings some fans are hoping for, finding quality at a good price is surely better than blowing the budget on a single “fingers-crossed” option.

I’m interested to see where this leads. If we really are targeting these two Japanese players, then that’s probably a positive sign. It shows that the club hasn’t been scared off by recent less-than-stellar returns from the Asian market. There’s still talent there—genuine talent—and it can often be brought in at relatively modest fees. That’s a market we should never stop exploring.

I don’t believe these are random picks out of a hat. The striker, for my money, is the more exciting of the two. I’m far from convinced about the defender. If he’s coming in, he needs to be better than Scales, better than Nawrocki, better than Stephen Welsh. Better than Lagerbielke. All decent players—none of whom have fully convinced us.

We don’t need more squad fillers. We need real quality, and we need it in several key positions. If this is about that, great. I like Nygren. I think we’ve got him for a steal. That deal was daylight robbery, and that’s exactly how we like it. O’Riley, Maeda, Hatate—all brought in for under £2 million each.

So I’m fairly relaxed about all this. If Rodgers is convinced these lads can contribute, then they’ll get my support. Let’s see what they’ve got.