Virals: Celtic-linked star makes major announcement

Manchester City defender Ko Itakura, who spent season 2021/22 on loan at Schalke, and has been linked with a move to Celtic, made a major announcement about his future on Twitter on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old revealed that he will not be returning to the German side in season 2022/23.

Sky Sports News recently reported that the centre-back was being monitored by Celtic, along with another Manchester City talent, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who is also a centre-back, but as yet the Hoops haven’t firmed up their interest in the duo and made a concrete offer for either player.

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Now that Itakura has confirmed that he is returning to Manchester City, it will be interesting to see what happens next. The chances are that he will not feature for Manchester City, so he will be looking to move on to a new club.

Will Celtic be that new club? That remains to be seen, but it does make sense that the Hoops will be looking to sign at least one centre-back in the summer transfer window.

As it stands, Carl Starfelt and Stephen Welsh are the only centre-backs in the first-team squad that will definitely be at the club next season. Nir Bitton, who often played in that position, has left the club, whilst Cameron Carter-Vickers has yet to agree a return to the club from Tottenham.

That means that the Hoops will need to sign at least one defender to get the numbers in the squad back up, and that will likely be the case even if Carter-Vickers does return.

There will no doubt be teams interested in Itakura, as he done well with Schalke, helping them win promotion back to the Bundesliga, and at the age of 25, he has many years of his career ahead of him.

If Celtic do want to sign Itakura, they should have the wheels in motion