Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate started his Hoops’ career like a house on fire, with the highlight being a brace in the 3-0 win over rivals Rangers back in February.
However, the Japanese international’s performance steadily declined toward the end of the season, with the player not even in the squad for the final league match against Motherwell last weekend.
Hatate has spoken out about fatigue, having pretty much played non-stop for fifteen months, and supporters on Twitter are very much backing him to get back to his best for the start of the 2022/23 campaign:
Fully rested and bedded in he’s going to be unreal
— Ally Bhoy (@CptBaconBaps) May 17, 2022
His one touch approach will get the praise it deserves
— E-Tims (@ETimsNet) May 18, 2022
Next season: Iniesta 2.0
— Sean (ショーン) 🏴 (@Seany_67) May 17, 2022
A good few weeks sleep beforehand wouldn’t go a miss. Great talent running on fumes at the end.
— David McQuade (@DMcQ61) May 17, 2022
could be one of our best players, same with meada, just imagine his speed while being on full fitness
— Nathan Morgan (@nxthxnxm) May 17, 2022
Started of on fire….but defo needs to up his fitness levels…Caught ball watching a few times with players gettn in behind him but hopefully a good rest and proper pre season will sort him!!🍀
— StevieMc (@Steviemc67) May 17, 2022
There is no doubt that tiredness played a key factor in the 24-year-old’s form tailing off and, while fans should still probably keep their expectations in check, they will definitely see an improvement in Hatate once he has had some time off.
Considering that Celtic only paid £1.4m when they signed the midfielder from Kawasaki Frontale in January, he has been an excellent addition to the squad so far.
