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Tomoki Iwata arrived at Celtic in the January transfer window as a J1 League MVP after a wonderful season with Yokohama F. Marinos.

The 25-year-old has featured for 56 minutes in total - 47 minutes in the 5-0 win over Morton in the Scottish Cup and a nine-minute cameo in the 3-0 Premiership victory over Livingston - since pitching up in Glasgow's east end.

Former Rangers defender Kevin Muscat, now Marinos manager, branded Iwata 'an incredible athlete who has the drive for success' when he put pen to paper for Ange Postecoglou's men.

Iwata played 42 times in the season in the J1 League, scoring two goals, providing two assists and picking up the player-of-the-year award as Marinos won the league. He has so far represented his country four times but was not part of the Japan squad that featured at Qatar in the 2022 World Cup finals.

However, no player can expect to simply walk into Postecoglou's Celtic side. The Hoops are Scottish Premiership champions for a reason; game-time is earned, never just given under the Australian.

Iwata is, it seems, well aware of the task facing him as he attempts to make the first-team breakthrough. The holding midfield role at Celtic is the domain of a certain Callum McGregor - and Iwata seems to have accepted that he simply ain't dislodging the captain from that position anytime soon.

In an interview given in his homeland recently, the midfielder gave himself a healthy reality check when he heaped praise on McGregor and admitted that he still has a lot to learn in terms of developing his own game.

Culture shock or not, it was genuinely refreshing to hear Iwata not only doff his cap to the man currently bossing it in the number six role but also show remarkable maturity and self-awareness.

"My strengths as a holding midfielder are tackling and breaking up moves but in this Celtic team you need to have something extra," Iwata said in the interview. "Here, we have players who can create the tempo of an attack and distribute passes - for example, Callum McGregor.

"Callum is the heart of the team and the captain. I think the bar is set very high for me to be able to compete with him but I have my own way of developing. Even if I don't play in as many games, there are things I can learn from him in training.

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"When I see how he passes the ball, or how he makes a change of tempo; he is also very consistent, which is something I lack. I think it's important to learn that in a short time and evolve into a player who can do something when he has the ball.

"A large part of my motivation to sign for Celtic was to play in the Champions League and I would love to do that next season. I will keep fighting to improve my game here."

There is a school of thought out there that if Celtic do reach the Champions League again then Postecoglou has a plan for European football's elite club competition that includes Iwata and McGregor.

The Hoops' Achilles heel in their group stage campaign this season was the concession of goals - plenty of them. In response, Postecoglou may well deploy two deep-lying midfielders next time round with Iwata offering an extra layer of protection.

But that is something for the manager to ponder at a later date. Meanwhile, diplomatically, McGregor has welcomed the challenge of Iwata with open arms.

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“It’s fine," he said shortly after Iwata's arrival. "That’s football, he’s coming in to help the group. We want as many good players as we can to push the standard. Ultimately, it will make us a more successful football club and that’s what we want.

"In modern-day football, teams carry big squads and you’re going to need them with the number of games. It’s all good. He’s come in, he speaks good English and we are happy to have him on board.”

Even McGregor sees the benefit of Iwata providing stiff competition for the deep-lying midfield role. There is no hidden message here: ask any Celtic player who is the best trainer at the club and the one that drives the standards on a daily basis and they will all say emphatically to a man that the answer to that question is Callum McGregor.

While the Celtic supporters are bursting to see more of what Iwata can bring to the table it remains to be seen exactly how Postecoglou intends to deploy him moving forward.

The strength in depth and quality of Celtic's squad will serve as a temporary reality check for Iwata. Warming the pine, riding the bench, sitting courtside or pitching up pitchside... call it what you will but even MVPs have to learn the hard way sometimes.

Well, they do if they want to be part of Postecoglou's Celtic team. Just ask the departed Giorgos Giakoumakis all about that.

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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