Celtic are hopeful of persuading Shunsuke Nakamura to stay until the end of the season, though appear to have accepted the inevitability of his departure next summer.

Celtic are hopeful of persuading Shunsuke Nakamura to stay until the end of the season, though appear to have accepted the inevitability of his departure next summer.

The Japanese midfielder has admitted that he could leave Celtic to return home in the January transfer window. Nakamura's contract expires in the summer, although the club have an option to extend his stay for another season.

However, the player is finding travelling between Glasgow and Japan for international duty increasingly difficult and he wants to return home for the sake of his young family.

Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, will try to convince him to see out the current campaign and negotiations on his future are continuing with his agent, Roberto Tsakuda.

"Celtic would be more than happy for Shunsuke to stay here for as long as he wants and certainly we want him to remain here until the end of the season," Lawwell said.

"But his agent has intimated Shunsuke would like to return to Japan at some point."

Tsakuda has already held talks with several J.League clubs with a view to Nakamura returning to his homeland, but Yokohama F Marinos remain the favourites to sign him. The midfielder started his career at Marinos and has bought a property beside the club's training ground with a view to an expected return.

The 30-year-old has often stated his desire to play in Spain, but his contentment at Celtic over the past three years has seen him remain at Parkhead. The chance to play in La Liga now appears to have passed him by and he is eager to return to J.League and showcase what he has learned since his departure to Reggina in the summer of 2002.

"My agent will take care of everything and if I were Scottish, then I'd love to play here for ever," said Nakamura. "But I'm Japanese with a wife and kids. I also have to think about the international team as well and I'm finding it quite hard travelling back and forward all the time. That kind of thing makes me think I need to go back to Japan.

"My agent has already spoken to a few teams in Japan but there is time if it's needed because of the option."

Nakamura has enjoyed a hugely successful three-year spell at the club, including picking up the Player of the Year award in season 2006-07.

He has also scored some iconic goals, including two strikes against Manchester United in the Champions League and another to win the league against Kilmarnock in 2007. Nakamura also scored a memorable long-range strike against Rangers in the penultimate Old Firm game of last season, which Celtic won 2-1 thanks to a late Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink header.

The player has been a stalwart of Gordon Strachan's side since signing in 2005, but the return of Shaun Maloney to the club earlier this month means they have a natural replacement for the midfielder should he leave sooner rather than later.

It has also been rumoured that Koki Mizuno, Naka-mura's countryman, could return home but the 23-year-old is understood to be keen to remain in Scotland.

Mizuno played for the Celtic reserves in their 2-0 win over Falkirk yesterday, but would prefer to go on loan to build up first-team experience.