Kyogo Furuhashi will get his Vissel Kobe send off tomorrow before he joins Celtic.
The Japanese winger has agreed a £4.5million switch to the Scottish Premiership to work under Ange Postecoglou.
But he’ll make his bow in Japanese football today as his side take on Cerezo Osaka.
The 26-year-old is in the starting line up for the J League clash but with Vissel away from home, a “send-off” party has been arranged for tomorrow at their Noevir Stadium.
The event will be streamed live on the club’s YouTube channel at 10am Japanese time.
Before then however, Furuhashi try and end his Kobe career with three points in his final appearances, which kicks off at 11am UK time.
Meanwhile, the player has tried to play down comparisons with Hoops legend and compatriot Shunsuke Nakamura.
The free-kick specialist, who is still playing at the age of 43 for Yokohama, remains a firm favourite at Celtic Park.
But Furuhashi is determined to write his own story, despite his playing style apparently being similar to his Celts predecessor.
He said: “As a child, my hero was Ronaldinho and swimmers like Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, but that all changed once I started playing with David Villa and Andres Iniesta.
“I have been compared with a few players like Shunsuke Nakamura, Hidetoshi Nakata and Keisuke Honda. All three were great players and are legends in Japan.
“But I want to carve my own name in the history books. I don’t want to be the new anyone.
“I consider myself fast, explosive and I can play in any forward position.
"But most of all I absolutely hate losing.
“Much of my education came from playing with Iniesta and Villa. When it was announced they were coming, I thought to myself, ‘am I really going to be playing with these legends I watched on TV?’
“They are spectacular players and have been an absolute treasure for my football development.
“My ultimate aim is to play at the World Cup with Japan and eventually play in La Liga.
“I love Spain, I have visited the country four times and I always watch the matches from there every week. I’ve even started learning to speak Spanish.
"My dream is to play there one day.”
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