Celtic have enjoyed a lot of success both on and off the pitch during the time of Ange Postecoglou as manager. A double last season has already been followed by the first piece of silverware this time around, as they lifted the Scottish League Cup by defeating the Rangers at Hampden Park. On the other hand, the club have done a tremendous job when it comes to their recruitment as well.
That was seen as a weakness for them not too long ago. Most fans will remember arrivals like Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti, Shane Duffy and others in the summer of 2020.
But since the arrival of Postecoglou as manager, they have looked towards leagues that they normally would not have. Several players have been brought in from the J League, and most of them have proven to be success stories for the club. It was Kyogo Furuhashi who scored a brace in the final against the Rangers, while Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda provided an assist each.
Micah Richards believes that there might be drawbacks to Celtic’s transfer success as well, as bigger teams might now be looking towards those leagues. As reported by Glasgow Live, he said while speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live:
"“Japanese players want to learn and Celtic is a massive club to show what you can do. Players like Virgil Van Dijk playing up there and going to the Premier League, so massive credit to them, long may it continue.“But the better they perform, the more expensive they will become, so a lot more people will delve into that market now. It’s a good thing for them and the players they are recruiting.“But it’s also a bad thing as now maybe some of the bigger clubs who don’t usually go in that market won’t go to the likes of Celtic.”"
Richards makes unexpected Celtic claim
That pretty much feels like finding a dark cloud in a silver lining. Whatever may be the case in the future, for now, Celtic must be very happy with the additions that they have made under the management of Postecoglou.
Of course, all cannot be successful transfer additions. That is just the nature of things. But most of them have worked out.
And it is not just the J League that they have brought in players from either. It was just recently that they signed Oh Hyeon-gyu from the K League. Alexandro Bernabei also became the club’s first ever Argentine player in the summer. Jota was brought in from Portugal. And there are many more examples.