Celtic could be handed a massive January boost as Kyogo Furuhashi may not have to travel to Japan for international duty.
The forward is one of Ange Postecoglou 's key men and has won the hearts of the Parkhead fans since joining from Vissel Kobe in the summer.
The manager looks set to return to the J League market in January, with Reo Hatate a target to bolster the midfield.
Furuhashi - and potentially Hatate - looked set to miss key fixtures against Hearts and Dundee United after the winter break.
The national team have two crunch World Cup qualifiers against China and Saudi Arabia at home at the end of January as they battle to get to the Qatar finals. They have also just organised a friendly against Uzbekistan in the week leading up to the first game.
However, Japan has closed its borders due to new Covid restrictions and that could see Kyogo remain in Glasgow.
JFA president Tashima has revealed he will play the matches with only Japanese-based players if their government refuses to allow any of their foreign-based stars to travel to the game.
He said: "We will comply with whatever the wishes of the government are for these World Cup matches. If we are not allowed to use our European-based players, then we will use the domestic players instead.
"It's too early to confirm what restrictions will be in place by then at this stage."
Celtic will also lose Tom Rogic and Hibs will be without talisman Martin Boyle because Australia also has two World Cup qualifiers at the same time against Vietnam and Oman.
However, FIFA may have to rethink these fixtures if there are more severe travel restrictions imposed by then.
