It is reported that former Japanese national team forward Toshisuke Nakamura (44) will definitely retire at the end of the season. He used to be a star player for the Celtics. In 2006, he put spikes on the child of a Celtic fan, but the boy, who is currently Arsenal's Scottish defender Kieran Tierney (25), is again attracting attention.
Since 2005, Nakamura has played for the Celtics for four seasons. He has been a regular player since his first year on transfer, contributing to three consecutive league wins and domestic cup titles. As a legend who has brought great achievements to the club, he is still loved by many fans.
It belongs to Yokohama FC from the middle of the 2019 season. However, because he has only played 5 games in the J2 league this season, some Japanese media reported on the 17th of this month that he will retire at the end of this season.
In 2006, Nakamura invited the children of several Celtic fans to the stadium at a Celtic-sponsored event. Spikes were given to Tierney, who was 10 years old at the time and belonged to the Celtic Academy, which has been seen many times in the local area.
Tierney signed a professional contract with Celtic in February 2014 and played for the Celtics' first team until the 2018/19 season. Even when he fully moved to Arsenal in July 2019, he spoke about his admiration for Nakamura during his interview with Arsenal.
This season, he has been a regular left-back since the start of the season, but he played in the 10th round of the Premier League against Liverpool on the 9th and the 11th against Leeds United on the 16th. Japanese representative Kenhiro Tomiyasu was stripped of his left-back position.
In response to the news of Nakamura's retirement from active service, Japanese fans have said: "Tierney must be sad".