Celtic confirmed the triple signing of Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Reo Hatate, Yokohama F. Marinos striker Daizen Maeda and Gamba Osaka’s Yosuke Ideguchi earlier today.
The three Japanese players had been heavily linked with the Scottish club over the past few weeks and they have now made their move official on the eve of the transfer window opening.
Supporters on Twitter are unsurprisingly very happy that the Hoops managed to get the deals over the line so quickly ahead of January:
Great bit of bizz must say ๐ฎ๐ช
— Daimzer67 (@daimzer67) December 31, 2021
Brilliant news๐๐ฏ๐ต
— DubaiBhoy1888 (@dubai_bhoy1888) December 31, 2021
In Ange we trust โ๐
— Nikki G๐ (@nikkigallagher_) December 31, 2021
WWWWWW
— James / Atara (@AtaraFTN) December 31, 2021
— Daniel (@DanielPark1967) December 31, 2021
New era ๐ฅฐ
— Alex (@alexshunde) December 31, 2021
Well done Celtic ๐๐
— Mark (@Mark52318596) December 31, 2021
Well done Celtic for getting work done early ๐
— Rab Furuhashi ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ๐ฎ๐ช (@bigrab1967) December 31, 2021
Tremendous โ๏ธ
— JG โ๏ธโ๏ธ (@Helpmaboab1971) December 31, 2021
Clearly, the trio were snapped up at the behest of Ange Postecoglou who knows the J-League very well after having managed there.
Whether the likes of Hatate, Maeda and Ideguchi will all have the same impact as Kyogo Furuhashi, though, it remains to be seen. The first team squad needed a lot more depth and their arrival has undoubtedly strengthened Postecoglou’s options going into the second half of the season.