Celtic's triple swoop: Contract lengths revealed, projected fees, when they could play, 'peak of their careers'

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has hailed his newly acquired Japanese trio of Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate as players who will “excite the fans” as he expressed his delight at the club making good on his desire for reinforcements at the earlier possible juncture of the window.

Daizen Maeda.

Forward Maeda, the J-League’s joint top scorer for 2021 with 23 goals and a performer that worked under Postecoglou at Yokohama F Marinos, will initially sign on loan with Celtic stating the deal for the 24-year-old structured with a “compulsory purchase clause”, thought to be in the region of £1.7million. He has agreed a long-term contract with the club, although the length was not stated by Celtic.

Ideguchi arrives from Gamba Osaka for a fee reported to be in the region of £850,000. The 25-year-old, who signed for Leeds United four years ago but never played for the club, is seen as an industrious performer and has agreed a four-and-a-half year deal. Meanwhile, Reo Hatate, acquired from Kawasaki Frontale on another four-and-a-half year contract, can play in a number of positions on the left – despite being right-footed – and the 24-year-old likely to be seen by the Celtic manager as offering an alternative to Tom Rogic and the currently sidelined David Turnbull in the playmaker roles. The Australian pointed to the age profiles of the three as welcomed the completion of moves long in the pipeline. The trio will be registered with Celtic in early January, “subject to the usual conditions and international clearance”, said the club.

“We are really pleased to bring in these guys to Celtic and I think they are players who will excite our fans,” said the 56-year-old. “Clearly I am well aware of their attributes and I think in bringing all three to the club we are bringing even more quality, personality and energy to the squad to work with the players who have done so well for us already this season.

“They are all really at the peak of their careers, ambitious to achieve more success and I am sure at this particular time we will be getting their best years. I am delighted to have secured these players so early in the transfer window, I look forward to working with them and myself, my backroom team and the rest of the squad will be making sure we help them settle into Celtic as quickly as possible.”

The trio could make their debuts for Celtic on Monday, January 17, when they host Hibs at home in the cinch Premiership after the three-week winter shutdown.

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.