is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Jagiellonia Białystok Jagiellonia Białystok () is a Polish professional football club based in Białystok that plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top level of Polish football. The club was founded in 1920 by soldiers in the 42nd Infantry Regiment Reserve Battalion in Bi ...

Career

Vissel Kobe

Kobayashi joined

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

from its youth team in 2018.

Celtic

On 23 November 2022, it was announced that Kobayashi would join Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

on a five-year deal, becoming available for registration on 1 January 2023. On 18 January 2023, he made his debut for the club starting in a 4–0 victory against St Mirren in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

Portimonense

On 24 August 2024, Kobayashi joined

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

Jagiellonia Białystok

On 3 July 2025, Kobayashi moved to Polish club

on a three-year deal, with an option for a fourth year.

Personal life

Kobayashi was born in Hyogo Prefecture.

Career statistics

Honours

Celtic *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

*
Yuki Kobayashi
at

(archived) 2000 births Living people Association football people from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Japan men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football defenders Vissel Kobe players FC Machida Zelvia players Yokohama FC players Celtic F.C. players Portimonense S.C. players Jagiellonia Białystok players J1 League players J2 League players Scottish Professional Football League players Liga Portugal 2 players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland 21st-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-defender-2000s-stub