KOKI MIZUNO is on his way back to Glasgow - but Celtic fans will still have to wait until the final few hours of the transfer window before the deal to make him a Celt goes through.

The JEF United winger has unexpectedly been left out of the Japanese squad for the double-header friendlies against Chile this weekend and Bosnia on Wednesday.

With J League football currently shut down, this has opened the door for Mizuno to continue negotiations with his prospective new employer.

With his work permit in place and his medical passed, the transfer will be finalised as soon as Mizuno's current contract with JEF United in Japan ends on Thursday.

Mizuno (inset) will then be registered in time to play in the Champions League ties with Barcelona on Feb 20 and March 4.

Waiting to welcome him back to Glasgow will be countryman Shunsuke Nakamura, who has dropped the broadest hint yet that he expects Mizuno to become a team-mate and not his Celtic replacement. Naka has been linked with a move back to Japan as early as this summer. But his wife has just presented him with their second son and he made it clear his growing family is content to remain in this country.

Nakamura said: "I'm really very well settled into my new life in Glasgow and I'm really happy to be here.

"I now have two small children growing up in this city and that has made my life here very different, as I help to look after them and I am very busy on and off the park."

Nakamura will be delighted to let Mizuno share some of the load on the pitch, and reckons Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink will benefit most from the new Bhoy's arrival.

He explained: "Koki is a player who has improved a lot in a very short space of time.

"I think he could become the best crosser in the team. So if he can get the ball into Jan, he can score more goals."

Mizuno's signing could be just one of two or three Celtic reveal next week, and recruiting another defender is high on manager Gordon Strachan's agenda.

The agent of Slovak left-back/centre-back Jan Durica claims the Parkhead club have had a £3m offer for the 26-year-old former Artmedia Bratislava player rejected by his current club, Saturn Moscow.

Karel Csonto said: "I personally discussed the transfer with Peter Lawwell. The Scottish side have offered Saturn four million Euros, which is not an adequate offer. The Russians have already turned it down."

Portsmouth are still trying to lure Lee Naylor south, and are reported to be willing to pay between £1.5m and £2m for the man brought from Wolves for £650,000.

But Celtic are not in any hurry to let him go and certainly won't allow Naylor to go until they have adequate cover in place.

Dundee United's Barry Robson is still on their radar, but not as a defender, while Polish trialist Sewerny Gancarczyk should find out today if Celtic are to pursue his transfer from Metalist Kharkiv.