GLASGOW (AFP) - Celtic boss Gordon Strachan wants fans to give Japanese international midfielder Koki Mizuno time to settle and fears he may be doomed to suffer hasty comparisons with compatriot Shunsuke Nakamura.

The 22-year-old Mizuno signed a three-and-a-half-year contract at Parkhead after moving from JEF United in his homeland.

Nakamura was voted player of the year in his second season in Scotland, but Strachan feels a spell at Italian side Reggina helped the more experienced Nakamura adapt quickly to Scottish football.

"We have got to wait a bit longer for him because, unlike Nakamura who stopped off in Italy before he came to Britain, he came straight from Japan," said Strachan.

"I can assure him the change of culture will shock him so he has to get acclimatised. He is a pure, pure football player, like Nakamura, and Naka took a while to get himself beefed up to the Scottish league, but when he did that he has been absolutely fantastic.

"We give them the platform here to see if they can adapt to playing Champions League football, pressure football, winning football every week.

"It's up to them to take it but we do feel he can do it, that's why we have asked him to join us. We feel he has good things to his game and I'm sure we can add to his game."

Mizuno, whose first media conference was attended by around a dozen Japanese reporters, admitted Celtic have been big news in his country since the arrival of Nakamura in 2005.

"Many people watch Celtic matches in Japan as they are shown on TV," Mizuno said.

"People who like football in Japan watch Celtic and because of Nakamura's presence at Celtic, that makes it big in Japan. Celtic are really big in Japan.

"I have played with Nakamura for the national team. He is someone who I admire so I'm glad to be able to play together."