Celtic: The Bhoys have found a money-maker in Hatate as claim emerges

Celtic secured their second, third and fourth signings from the J-League when Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda joined summer arrival Kyogo Furuhashi in January, but it’s the former who’s made the quickest and largest impact since the turn of the new year.

Hatate only cost Celtic £1.4 million, which already looks to be one of the best signings of the entire season given he’s still just 24 years old and has seemingly already written his name into the history books with Celtic when he scored twice and assisted one goal in their derby-day rout earlier this month.

The Japanese international could well wish to secure legendary status by staying with Celtic for a prolonged period of time, or look bigger than that by eyeing up a potential move to the Premier League – with Pete O’Rourke telling GiveMeSport that English Premier League clubs will certainly be looking at the midfielder.

He would not be the first Celtic man to impress north of the border before heading off to test himself in the Premier League, with the likes of Odsonne Edouard, Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Stuart Armstrong all taking that career path.

Smart business by Celtic?

While it’s surely a shame for Celtic fans to see their top stars plucked from their grasp by Premier League clubs with more money than them as soon as they start performing well, it does provide the club with a clear transfer plan of buying unearthed gems on the cheap and selling for a big profit.

For example, Hatate cost Celtic £1.4 million and Gabriel Agbonlahor believes that the Celtic man’s market value has already tripled based on his stunning start, which has seen him produce three goals and two assists.

Celtic have made some impressive profits on players in the past, with Southampton buying Van Dijk, Wanyama, Forster and Armstrong over the years for a combined total of £45 million, whereas it only cost Celtic just over £12 million to bring them all to the club. So this method clearly works and will surely continue to as long as clubs in the Premier League remain as wealthy as they are.

It could still be a long time before Hatate departs the club as five performances won’t be enough to convince anyone he’s worthy of taking a plunge on, but if he keeps up this sort of form for a midfielder and starting regularly under Ange Postecoglou, in 12-18 months’ time, there could be a whole host of English clubs circling for his signature.

In other news: ‘All those ingredients’ – Kieran Devlin claims Celtic have found a potential ‘cult hero’