Celtic captain makes exciting claim about Japanese trio

Celtic had been linked with Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi for quite some time, but the club did not take long to get deals over the line for the Japanese trio, bringing them early on in the winter transfer window. It is safe to say that that would have been a huge boost for Ange Postecoglou, as it has increased the Hoops’ squad depth and hopefully, their overall quality as well.

The Japanese trio are already in Glasgow and have started training with the team as well. That is set to give them some much needed time to adjust to their new surroundings and teammates, and as a result, bringing them in early was a masterstroke on the part of the club.

And it looks like the trio are not just training but making an impression on their teammates at Lennoxtown as well.

One of those impressed appears to be club captain, Callum McGregor. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, he told Celtic’s official YouTube channel:

"“Yeah, they look great. They are really technical players. They understand what the manager wants from them as well after him being over there as a coach as well.“Full of energy, full of pressing, very similar to Kyogo in that sense. They’ll work really hard for the team and they have that quality to go along with it. So, the early signs are very good.“It’s now just about us bedding them into the team and the club, making sure they understand the culture and everything we’re trying to do at Lennoxtown and at Celtic Park. It’s really positive and I’m sure they’ll be desperate to get into the games as well.”"

Celtic captain makes exciting claim about club’s new Japanese trio

All three signings have a lot of potential and could go a long way in improving Celtic’s team. The most exciting one is naturally that of Maeda.

Maeda topped the J1 League scoring charts in the 2021 campaign despite not being an out and out striker. His qualities also fit perfectly with the style of football that Postecoglou is trying to play. In fact, he has already played under the manager during their time together at Yokohama F. Marinos.

On the other hand, Hatate was a standout in the J1 League last season as well and many believe that his potential can be even higher than Maeda, with the midfielder capable of playing all over the pitch with equal ease.

The most interesting is the signing of Ideguchi, who has not been in great form recently but showcased tremendous potential early on in his career.