Any doubts about Shunsuke Nakamura's future at Celtic were finally removed yesterday when the Scottish champions revealed that their talisman Japan midfield player will remain to help Gordon Strachan's bid to win a fourth successive Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.

A club source confirmed to The Times that Nakamura will not be returning to his native country during the January transfer window, despite the player's former club, Yokohama F Marinos, testing Celtic's resolve by putting together a £3million bid.

Nakamura's contract with Celtic expires this summer and the 30-year-old has hinted that he would like to return home soon after eight years in Europe. However, Celtic believe they might even tempt Nakamura to stay in Glasgow for one last crack at the Champions League, if they win the domestic title this season.

“Shunsuke Nakamura wants to stay with Celtic and help Gordon Strachan to win a fourth title in a row,” the club source said. “He never wanted to leave Celtic and there was never any prospect of him doing that in January.”

Nakamura's agent, Robert Takuda, was in Glasgow at the weekend for talks with Peter Lawwell, the chief executive. And the outcome is that Nakamura will remain at Celtic until his contract runs out at the end of this season.

Yokohama have had a dreadful season in the J-League and have pinned a lot on Nakamura being the man to bring back the crowds. Their sponsors, Nissan Motors, were putting a sizeable sum of money into a contract offer to Nakamura and a fee to tempt Celtic to sell now.

Strachan was given another piece of good news yesterday when Aiden McGeady said that he is ready to return to action after missing the last seven games with a knee problem. The Ireland player feared he would require surgery to rectify the tendinitis in a knee that has limited him to 15-minute bursts of training before the pain forces him to stop.

However, a scan has confirmed he has inflammation but no serious damage to his joint, and the plan is to avoid the operating theatre and get him back on to the pitch this weekend against Hibernian at Easter Road.

McGeady sustained a calf muscle injury in training the day before the Champions League match against Manchester United on November 5. He has sat on the sidelines for the past four weeks, and tried to make his comeback last week in the Champions Leage game with Aalborg, but failed a pre-match fitness test.

“Aiden can only train for about 15 minutes pain-free,” Strachan said. “The doctors are looking at it to see what we can do for the lad.” If the rest cure does not do the trick, McGeady may be given an injection to help to reduce the inflammation.