Celtic’s new Japanese trio hoping to emulate Kyogo’s success
Celtic’s new Japanese trio of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi have set their eyes on silverware this season, as they aim to emulate compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi’s start to life in Glasgow.
Last updated 12th Jan 2022
Celtic’s new Japanese trio of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi have set their eyes on silverware this season, as they aim to emulate compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi’s start to life in Glasgow.
Furuhashi has scored 16 times so far this season, including a brace in Celtic’s 2-1 League Cup Final victory over Hibernian just before Christmas.
Fellow forward Maeda is hoping to form a fruitful partnership with Kyogo, highlighting their similar attributes: “I’m extremely looking forward to playing with Kyogo.
“Both of us have similar speed as a strength and can apply pressure to opposing teams when we are attacking.
“My style of play is to put all of my energy into games, so I can’t wait to show the fans that.”
Maeda was the J-League’s joint top scorer last season with 23 goals and has pledged to do his best to fire Celtic to the league title: “The ultimate goal is to win the league. In order to do that I need to score lots of goals, so that’s my focus.”
The 24-year-old also claimed he was excited to reunite with strong minded Hoops manager Ange Postecolgou, after the two worked together at Yokakoma F. Marinos: “I really admire his strong views and opinions.
“He is the kind of manager you want to follow and do your best with.”
Reo Hatate, a utility player, highlighted the importance of all three players joining at the same time: “It’s extremely reassuring. It is nice to be able to communicate in own our language and will of course be important in games.”
Hatate, also 24, won the J-League title in both 2020 and 2021, whilst being named in the division’s best XI last campaign.
The left footer can play anywhere on the left-hand side of the pitch but stated that his best position is as an attacking midfielder, an area that Celtic have been light in following the exit of Ryan Christie last summer.
Yosuke Ideguchi is the eldest of the trio at 25 and has experienced football in the UK before, although he did not make a competitive appearance whilst at Leeds United three years ago.
Ideguchi, known just as Guchi, said the Parkhead team are giving him a second chance in Europe that he intends to take.
Guchi plays at the base of midfield and has been encouraged by early talks with Postecoglou: “The manager has told me to focus on my own way of playing.
"My style is hard work, getting the ball and leading attacks.”
He is an established international with 15 caps for Japan, whilst all three new additions, along with Kyogo, could be called up for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers this month, which end the day before Celtic are scheduled to host Rangers in the re-arranged league meeting.
Whether Celtic’s Japanese contingent do feature in the much-anticipated next meeting with the defending champions remains to be seen but if any of the three newcomers can have a similar impact to Kyogo, as they all hope, the Hoops can expect a big return on their investment.