REO HATATE UDINESE LINK IS A RED HERRING
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- May 9
- 3 min read
With the dust-settled on a derby that was (on the pitch anyway) entirely inconsequential, the tabloids have moved onto that other well-known staple of appeasing their Rangers loving readership and dampening Celtic fans’ moods.
They’ve ran a story linking one of our best players with a transfer away from Celtic Park. As expected, no actual evidence is presented, just The S*n and The Daily Record giving it the usual “trust me mate” routine.
Reo Hatate Wouldn’t Leave for Udinese, He’ll Expect Better
The latest subject of baseless speculation today is Reo Hatate, Udinese are the club linked with a move for our Japanese playmaker. There seems to be a consensus that if Celtic are going to lose any of our star players this summer, then Hatate may be the one to go.
However, with the greatest of respect to them, I don’t think a club like Udinese fits the profile of what Hatate is looking for.
Hatate has stated that a priority for him next season is forcing his way into Japan’s starting line-up. That is no easy feat when you have exceptional talents like Takefusa Kubo and Kaoru Mitoma ahead of you, but I like his ambition.
However, moving to the team currently sitting 12th in Serie A, with no prospect of European Football next season isn’t going to achieve Hatate’s stated goals.
We know Hajime Moriyasu doesn’t rate Scottish football. It is only the fact that Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate have performed so well that he, reluctantly, still picks them for the Japan squad.
Moriyasu was said to be a driving force behind turning Kyogo’s head and forcing through his ill-fated move to Rennes.
Kyogo got the solitary international recall that he so desperately wanted.
However, with the way things are going for him at Rennes now, any further caps are unlikely unless there’s a massive change in circumstances.
I genuinely wish the wee man well, and I hope he can turn it around, but I think we all accept now that the move to Rennes was a huge mistake for him.
All of this though will serve as a warning to Reo Hatate. Unlike Kyogo, who is now in his 30s and probably saw Rennes as his last chance to play in one of Europe’s top 5 leagues before returning to Japan, time is still on Hatate’s side.
Celtic have a player in Reo Hatate who is just coming into his prime. However, despite his recent rich vein of form, he has had an up and down season.
When he’s good, he’s almost unplayable, but when he’s bad he’s painfully mediocre and makes little impact on the game.
There has definitely been more good than bad from Reo Hatate this season.
However, if I were him, and I were Celtic, I’d stick around for at least one more year. He still has 3 years to go on his current deal, so there’s no rush to cash in on a depreciating asset from the club’s perspective.
From the player’s viewpoint, Hatate knows that going to a club like Udinese isn’t what he needs to realize his World Cup dreams.
He would be better placed to do so by staying at Celtic and making a significant contribution to, hopefully, an even more successful Champions League Campaign next season.
If he can do that, then he should, at the very least, maintain his place in Japan’s squad for the World Cup next summer. Then, depending on how he does at the tournament, he will, I believe have clubs far bigger than Udinese coming in for him.
It’s really a question of what Reo Hatate wants. If it’s to maximize his wealth, Udinese could probably offer more than Celtic, but not by much.
However, from interviews he has given, and statements I have read, both in the Japanese and Scottish press, it seems that national pride plays a big part in informing Hatate’s decisions.
For that reason, I believe he won’t be going to Udinese. If he does leave Celtic, it would only be for a club as well-placed or indeed better placed to cement his berth in the Japan World Cup squad next summer.
Unfortunately for him, I don’t think he’s quite ready to step up to that level, yet.
