Chris Sutton tips Celtic midfielder to leave for ‘big money’

Celtic’s biggest strength since the appointment of Ange Postecoglou as manager has been their recruitment. Of course, there have been some moves that have not worked out, but overall, the club have been superb in identifying talent and signing them. This has led to them discovering gems like Kyogo, Jota, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and several others in such a small span of time.

Of course, the reality of the situation is also that a number of these players will move on to other clubs in the not too distant future. Josip Juranovic for instance, is expected to head out after the World Cup, when his transfer value could be at its highest after starting for the Croatian national team.

One player who was expected to head to the World Cup but did not is Reo Hatate. But that has not stopped Chris Sutton from tipping him to leave in a ‘big money’ move in the future.

The former Celtic star wrote in his column in the Daily Record:

"Strangely, there’s been a reluctance, in general, for British clubs to go down that Asian route. Certainly not before an individual has proved himself somewhere else first.Postecoglou has used that attitude to his advantage and Celtic have managed to get gems such as Reo Hatate, who was signed for relative buttons and will go for big money in the future."

Celtic midfielder tipped to leave in ‘big money’ move by Sutton

It is safe to say that Hatate has proven himself since arriving at Celtic and it came as a shock to many when he was not included in Japan’s World Cup squad.

He has been one of Celtic’s best performers this season and has actually found consistency, something that he had lacked in the previous campaign, as it had looked like he was struggling late on in the season and had run out of steam.

One would hope that the fact that he was not called up to the Japan national team’s squad for the World Cup will only work as extra motivation for Hatate and he will become an even better player in the second half of the season.