Gordon Strachan is adamant Celtic will not sell Shunsuke Nakamura in January. J-League club Yokohama Marinos, for whom Nakamura made his professional debut in 1997, will attempt to sign the 30-year-old midfielder in January ahead of their 2009 season.

A Yokohama spokesman was reported as saying: "It's a matter of how soon we can get ready financially.

"This will depend on when we get the nod from our parent company Nissan."

But Strachan, preparing his side for Wednesday's Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-final tie against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, remained consistent in his appraisal of the situation.

"It is the same statement as on Friday, the same position," the Celtic boss said.

"Nobody has mentioned anything to me and unless anyone tells me anything different to my face then I will refer you to Friday's statement.

"I had a long conversation with Naka on Thursday and he never said a thing about that.

"I can only deal with reality; I will leave it up to the rest to deal with the nonsense that goes with it."