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Fullname: Koki Mizuno
Born: 06 Sep 1985
Birthplace: Shimizu-ku, Japan
Signed: Jan 2008
Left: 30 Jun 10
Position: Right-Winger
Debut: Celtic 2-0 St Johnstone, SPL, 8 Nov 2008
Squad No.: 29
Internationals: Japan
International Caps 4 [TBC]
International Goals 0 [TBC]

Biog

Japanese international winger Koki Mizuno was a surprise signing for Celtic in the January transfer window of 2008, possibly chosen with the input of Nakamura who was at the club at the time.

The right-sided midfielder was brought to Glasgow on January 29th 2008 from J League side JEFUnited where he had played 88 games and scored 13 goals. Quick and skillful Mizuno had been a member of the Japanese side in the 2005 FIFA Youth World Championship and won his first senior cap as a sub in March 2007 when he came on in a friendly against Peru.

Thanks to a string of impressive performances in the reserves and a long list of players on the sidelines, Mizuno finally made his debut in the first-team against Motherwell on 8 October 2008, substituting Scott McDonald three minutes from time. He then made this first start for Celtic against Falkirk on 21 December 2008, capping a more than promising performance with a goal in injury time (and was highly rated in his initial performances being named the man of the match), followed by his first game v Rangers a week later in which he applied himself commendably.

Despite this good start in the first team he was dropped soon after and never recovered. He had motivation, skill and pace, but his lack of physical presence made him easy to shrug off the ball. The odd opportunity to gain a foothold in the side was not going to aid him.

Cynics believe he was only here for the ability for us to continue the Japanese link (after the wonderful Nakamura) to sell Celtic merchandise in Japan. That is nonsense. Mizuno had enough talent to be given an opportunity. Problem is that he was behind on his physical development and in effect was losing confidence. Possibly he wasn't able to bulk up enough to push on in the game.

In July 2010, he was released by the club. Sad to see, we hoped he may develop into a good attacking player (especially after his great first performances).

His return to Japan saw his career on the slide. An early injury lost him from play for the whole of the season, and from there on in his number of games for Kashiwa Reysol were few.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Scottish/ FA Cup		League cup		Other
Celtic	01/04/2008	31/05/2010	Signed	2 (9)	1	0 (0)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (0)	0
JEF United	01/07/2007	01/04/2008		No appearance data available
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

KDS Honours
MOTM Winners 2008-09
21-Dec-08	Falkirk 0-3 Celtic	SPL

Honours with Celtic

none

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