Ange Postecoglou’s transfer record as Celtic manager has been something to behold. Within two transfer windows, the Australian, along with the recruitment team, was able to discover talents like Kyogo, Jota, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and several others. It has been the biggest reason behind their recent successes on the pitch.
There are two things that Celtic could end up doing now with these players. Either they could move away from the club for healthy profits. Or they can remain at Parkhead and continue to help the Hoops to titles.
Of course, like every other club in the world, Celtic’s transfer record has not been flawless and there have been some misses as well. One of the biggest ones has been the decision to sign Yosuke Ideguchi without a shadow of a doubt.
Ideguchi was brought in from Gamba Osaka, believed to be a transfer fee around £1 million, and has not been able to make any impact on the first-team till now, remaining on the periphery of the squad throughout that period of time. There were question marks over the deal back when the move was made itself and the doubts have proven to be right.
Celtic boss made major transfer mistake last January
While the likes of Daizen Maeda and Hatate were coming off of standout campaigns in Japan, Ideguchi was not. In fact, he had been pretty average the season before.
Thus, this felt like a transfer which was made on the basis of what Postecoglou could get out of the midfielder rather than what he was producing at that point of time in his career.
One has to remember that he had been a highly-rated player during his early career. But by now, it has become pretty clear that he is not going to be anything more than a bit part player for Celtic. It might very well be time to part ways.