Celtic shun January exit talk

2nd December 2008

Celtic have confirmed Shunsuke Nakamura will not be leaving the club before the end of the season.

The Japan midfielder, whose contract expires in the summer, appeared set to return home in the January transfer window after former club Yokohama F Marinos prepared a reported £3million bid for the 30-year-old.

But the move appears to have collapsed amid suggestions Yokohama's parent company - car manufacturing giants Nissan - had decided to pull the plug due to the credit crunch.

That may not please the player, who had previously indicated a desire to return home in the new year for the sake of his young family and his international career.

Nevertheless, Celtic insisted on Tuesday night there was never any suggestion Nakamura would leave the club.

They said in a statement released to PA Sport: "Celtic didn't want Naka to leave and Naka didn't want to leave. Therefore, there was never any prospect of Shunsuke leaving in January."