"Our best player" - Claim made on star Birmingham City signed from Celtic in the summer | OneFootball

We asked our Birmingham City fan pundit to describe Tomoki Iwata's performances for the club since his summer move from Celtic

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

While his deadline day move from Celtic to Birmingham City may have gone somewhat under the radar following Jay Stansfield's big move to St Andrew's, Tomoki Iwata has made a hugely impressive start to life in League One.

The Japanese international was a surprise arrival which felt like it came from nowhere, but he's wasted no time in nailing down a regular starting berth in Chris Davies' side, and Blues supporters have been impressed by what the 27-year-old has shown so far.

Despite being a defensive midfielder, Iwata has proven to be a goalscoring threat for Birmingham, scoring three times in seven League One games, his most recent being a wonder strike in their 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in midweek.

While Iwata's arrival may have been unheralded, he's had no trouble with adapting to English football, and it's clear that he should be playing at a higher level than League One.

Tomoki Iwata dubbed Birmingham City's best player after impressive start

We asked our Birmingham City fan pundit, Mike Gibbs, to describe Iwata's performances this season in one word, and it's clear that he and the rest of the St Andrew's faithful have been very impressed by what they've seen so far.

Speaking to Football League World, Mike said: “I think for Iwata my one word to describe him would be outstanding.

“You look at his numbers, he was obviously player of the month for September, he's played seven games and scored three goals as a deep-lying midfielder, struck up a partnership with Paik straight away.

“I think when he arrived it was a little bit under the radar because of Stansfield, and he’s been our best player to be honest. He’s been absolutely outstanding."

Tomoki Iwata looks like a serious coup for Birmingham City

It's fair to say that not too many Birmingham City supporters would have known much about Iwata, with the 27-year-old struggling for regular football at Celtic last season, playing just 24 games in all competitions, with just 11 of those coming as starts.

However, Blues boss Davies, who worked with Ange Postecoglou at Spurs, the man who brought Iwata to Celtic Park, would have heard good things about the Japanese international and decided he was worth signing.

To be labelled Birmingham City's best player this season when you look at the calibre of player they've got and the money they spent in the summer is no mean feat, and bringing him to St Andrew's looks like better business with every passing game.

Iwata is in the top 10% of League One players in his position for a number of stats, such as successful passes (382), pass accuracy (87.6%), goals (3) and aerial duels won (84.6%), as per Fotmob.

Birmingham have made an excellent start to the season, in no small part thanks to Iwata's form, and if they win promotion to the Championship as expected, he'll have no problems with adapting to the second tier of English football.