Koki Mizuno

Koki Mizuno (水野 晃樹, Mizuno Kōki, born 6 September 1985 in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka) is a Japanese footballer, who currently plays as a midfielder for Vegalta Sendai.

He is the cousin of Keita Suzuki, also a footballer.

Club career

JEF United

After graduating from Shimizu Commercial High School, Mizuno joined JEF United in 2004. He was the MVP of the 2006 J. League Cup competition.

Celtic

Celtic's interest was confirmed by chief executive Peter Lawwell in January 2008 who explained that the club planned on signing Mizuno, if he was granted a work permit.

After initially being denied a permit, Gordon Strachan took part in an appeal hearing in which he described his other Japanese import Shunsuke Nakamura as a "flawless performer" and "The best player I have ever worked with, and that includes [Kenny] Dalglish and [Gary] McAllister", and claimed that Mizuno was a young player of immense talent and potential. The appeal was successful and Celtic completed the signing of Koki Mizuno on 29 January 2008. On 18 July 2008, Mizuno made his debut in a 2–0 pre-season friendly win over Southampton. On 8 November, he made his league debut for Celtic in a 2–0 victory over Motherwell, replacing Scott McDonald in the 88th minute and, on 21 December 2008, he made his first start in a game against Falkirk He scored his first goal for Celtic in the 90th minute of the match, assisted by a pass from Shunsuke Nakamura. On 1 July 2010, Mizuno was released by Celtic.