Reo Hatate has been a very good acquisition for Celtic.
Brought in on the first day on the January window alongside Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda, he exploded onto the Celtic scene with a scorching goal against Hearts and then two stunning finishes in the February Glasgow Derby.
Both him and Maeda have been essential to Celtic’s charge to the top of the league and I have no doubt, when given the opportunity, Ideguchi will have his part to play in this team.
But today, Hatate opened up on why he decided to join Celtic in January in a diary published by [Yahoo Japan], “I DECIDED TO MOVE TO CELTIC BECAUSE I WANTED TO GET A RESULT WITH THIS TEAM AND BE ON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (CL).
“I WENT TO EUROPE BECAUSE I WANTED A STAGE WHERE I COULD PLAY SERIOUSLY WITH PLAYERS LIKE REGULARS WHO ARE COMPETING IN THE CL CLUB (Champions League) SUCH AS GERMANY AND SPAIN.
“(MAEDA) IS PROUD TO BE ABLE TO TAKE THE TOP SPOT FROM SECOND PLACE, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE STRENGTHS WE JOINED MID-SEASON.
“THE LEAGUE HAS BECOME A GOOD GAME, AND I FEEL TIRED ENOUGH TO ADMIT IT MYSELF, BUT I WANT TO CONTINUE DOING WHAT I CAN NOW IN ORDER FOR THE TEAM TO WIN THE LEAGUE.”
Well, it looks like his gamble has paid off as Celtic look odds on to claim the title back from their rivals should they see out the last five games of the season without a hiccup.