Celta Vigo welcomes 34 Japanese youth players to its academy program

A new group of 34 Japanese players is in Vigo as part of the international A Canteira Experience program, which has now brought over 500 talents from the Asian country over nine seasons of collaboration.

Celta Vigo has bolstered its international reach with the arrival of 34 young Japanese footballers at its facilities. The players are taking part in A Canteira Experience, the international program of the club's strategic Celta360 project, which aims to turn Vigo into a reference training destination in Europe. This developmental push comes as the first team sits ninth in La Liga, with 12 points from ten games, having recorded two wins, six draws, and two losses.

This initiative is part of a nine-season collaboration with the Wakatake Group, which began in the 2017-2018 season. Since then, over 500 Japanese players have passed through the Galician club's structure. The forecast for the current season is that nearly 200 players from the Asian country will participate in the program, which combines training under Celta's official methodology with an educational and residential offer.

A strategic bet on youth development

Celta360 is the project through which the club seeks to transform its sports city into a hub for high performance, education, and innovation. A Canteira Experience offers youngsters from around the world the chance to live the routine of a Celta youth player, with access to the methods of a club that gives tangible weight to its academy products. In fact, Celta is the third team among Europe's top five leagues that grants the most minutes to homegrown players. This commitment was rewarded last season with the promotion of the reserve team, Celta Fortuna, to the second division.

Each year, club coaches travel to Japan to give clinics and transfer their working philosophy to local pitches, solidifying a relationship that already carries sporting weight. The Japanese participants thus experience a way of working focused on talent development within a demanding environment.

This institutional growth comes as the first team, ninth in La Liga with 12 points after ten matchdays, prepares to visit Rayo Vallecano on Saturday 31 October. The side, which is 15 points behind leaders Barcelona, arrives with a run of two wins, two draws, and one defeat in its last five games, a competitive context that reinforces the appeal of Celta's training project. This season, the team has scored 10 goals and conceded 7. The club's ultimate goal is to expand this relationship and attract more Asian footballers, establishing Vigo as a top-tier training hub on the continent.

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