Celtic midfielder Nakamura has been increasingly linked with a move back to the J. League and Yokohama, for whom the 30-year-old made his professional debut in 1997, will try to sign him during the winter transfer window for the 2009 J.League season, which begins in early March.

With Nakamura's contract expiring at the end of the season, a January switch will also mean Celtic would pocket a reported 900million to one billion yen.

Yokohama officials visited the Scottish Premier League club back in May to discuss a potential move and confirmed they will make an approach for Nakamura if it proves viable.

"It's a matter of how soon the club can get ready financially for it," a Yokohama official said.

"That'll depend on when we get the nod from our parent company Nissan."

Japan Football Association honorary president Saburo Kawabuchi last week revealed that during a chat with Nakamura last week following Manchester United's Champions League game with Celtic at Old Trafford, the midfielder hinted he was keen to return to Japan.

"I spoke to him after the game and he said to me, 'My child is approaching the age of going to nursery school and I'm 30.' It sounded like he's made up his mind to come back," Kawabuchi was quoted as saying in the Japanese press.

Nakamura, who joined Celtic in 2005, stressed that nothing has been decided but his agent is expected to travel to Scotland to talk about the deal some time next month.

"I've left that to my agent and I've heard nothing about it," Nakamura was quoted as saying by Japanese media sources.