Reo Hatate makes brutally honest Celtic admission

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 29: Reo Hatate of Celtic in action during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 29, 2022 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JANUARY 29: Reo Hatate of Celtic in action during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Dundee United at Celtic Park on January 29, 2022 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Reo Hatate made a brilliant start to life at Celtic and it was looking like the club had pulled off a transfer masterstroke by signing him from Kawasaki Frontale in January. His biggest performance was without doubt the one against the Rangers at Parkhead. The Japanese star scored a brilliant brace and provided an assist to guide Ange Postecoglou’s side to a dominant 3-0 victory, the club’s first win against their Glasgow rivals since 2019.

But since then, we have seen Hatate struggle at times as well, as his early form has faded away and many fans have even raised questions about whether he is actually as good as he had looked at first.

Of course, one must have expected Hatate to take some adjust to the Scottish game. This is first stint in European football after all.

And it appears that Hatate himself is aware that he has faced difficulties in recent games. As reported by Ultra Soccer, the Japanese international said:

"“At first I felt that I was able to join in a very good way with results, but it was not so easy, and there were a lot of marks and games from the opponent team. In the meantime, there were various difficulties in terms of conditions and so on.”"

Hatate further added about his difficulties in adjusting to the Scottish game:

"“In the first place, the environment is different from Japan, and the pitch conditions and climate are different, so it took a lot of time to get used to it.”"

Hatate makes honest admission about his difficulties at Celtic

All things considered, Hatate has made a decent start to life at Celtic. It would have been an unfair ask to expect him to come in and start putting in brilliant performances in every game, especially after having played a full season in Japan.

There were expected to be some difficulties adjusting to a completely different continent and style of football, and thus, it should not come as a surprise to anyone. Just because Kyogo was able to do it so seamlessly does not mean that every other player will find it equally simple.

There is no question about Hatate’s talent or potential though and over time, he can go on to become a huge part of this Celtic team.