Celtic midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi has admitted that he’s enjoyed his start to life at Parkhead even if he’s struggling for minutes so far.
Ideguchi arrived in January from Gamba Osaka for a reported £800k [Scottish Daily Mail print edition, page 110]. It looked as though he was going to immediately get his big opportunity and run with it.
However, a knee injury against Alloa set him back for a month and he’s since found game-time hard to come by. He’s only played 7 league minutes since he recovered and was also handed Scottish Cup cameo roles against Raith Rovers and Dundee United respectively.
At this stage, it looks as though Ange Postecoglou is waiting until pre-season before Ideguchi is given his big chance. But even despite all of that, he’s still clearly loving his start to life in Glasgow.
Speaking in the Celtic View [Volume 57, Issue 3, page 42], Ideguchi said: “I’m enjoying my time at the club so far. Celtic is a club with a huge history. I knew it was big when I signed and that’s part of the reason why I wanted to come. To play for a team fo this size is an honour and I was delighted to be asked to join a club with this history.
“When I was in Japan I watched a lot of Ange Postecoglou’s Yokohama F Marinos team, so it was exciting to join this side because I was always interested in how he played.
“So far, I’ve not been surprised with the difference between the football here to that of Japan and I have that experience of Europe from before. I would say it’s a lot tougher in terms of the physical side and the intensity of the play but overall there’s not been too many shocks.”
Yosuke Ideguchi clearly understands that patience is required at Celtic
Ideguchi is by far the unluckiest of our January signings. The storming starts made by the likes of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and Matt O’Riley came because they were able to be fit and involved early on. Had it not been for that injury against Alloa, who knows where Ideguchi would be in the pecking order?
But Ange has been spot on since his return. It’s been important not to rush him back in. Not when we already have midfielders who have been key in the title run-in.
It just hasn’t been plausible for Ideguchi to be given an opportunity. Had the injury only kept him out for 2 weeks or so, that would’ve been a different story. Unfortunately however, his recovery trickled into a crucial period in which line-up tinkering needs to be kept to a minimum.
In a way, it’s probably a good thing for him. It allows Yosuke to get more acclimatised to Scotland as a whole. Allows him to become more familiar with Scottish football and Scotland as a country.
He’ll know how big the summer is for him personally. It’ll be his big chance to show the Celtic supporters, and the manager of course, what he’s truly capable of.
It should be an exciting 2022 for Ideguchi despite his lack of minutes so far. There remains plenty of excitement over what he could potentially have in store.
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