Yosuke Ideguchi, call him “Guchi”, has explained why Celtic was the team for him after arriving from Gamba Osaka in the J League.
Of Celtic’s three new Japanese signings, Ideguchi is the best-versed in European football. Leeds United signed him in 2018, but he was subsequently loaned out to Greuther Fürth and Cultural Leonesa in Germany and Spain, respectively.
And Ideguchi, who didn’t get a look-in at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, is using the fire of disappointment to spur a new chapter in his career.
Ideguchi, explaining why he joined Celtic, said [Sky Sports]: “[The] first time I went abroad as a footballer, I couldn’t really leave the result I wanted.
“I always wanted to try again, to play for an international team. So [Celtic] gave me the second chance. That’s why I 100% wanted to go to Celtic.
“In terms of Leeds, I was only there for the training camp. And from there I was on a loan to Spain and Germany. Probably the reason why, for me, it wasn’t a success, is because I felt I couldn’t give my all. I couldn’t put all my energy into it. So that’s probably why I didn’t feel I could leave the right results there.”
Yosuke Ideguchi arrives at Celtic with a point to prove
In fairness, it can’t be easy, can it? You’re signed for an English club, then moved to a Spanish club, then a German club – how on earth do you adapt to that?
Even the most polyglottic of footballers would struggle with that. You’re essentially being asked to play in three disparate footballing cultures in a short space of time. Let alone the fact that not one of them is native to you. If Leeds wanted the best out of Ideguchi, they had a funny way of showing it.
Well, in the end, their loss is our gain. Ideguchi sounds raring to go. And let’s face it, we like a player with a bit of a chip on their shoulder.
Think of Henrik Larsson; frustrated at Feyenoord, a legend at Celtic. Chris Sutton; a massive transfer for Chelsea, redemption at Paradise. Scott Sinclair; written off in England, an immediate invincible treble winner at Celtic. You probably have countless other examples of your own.
Ideguchi is stylistically like none of those players. But if he’s an Ange signing, chances are he was going to be a hard worker in the Paradise engine anyway.
You add the motivation of making a point to Leeds and to UK football in general? Well, suffice it to say it’s going to be fun watching him make an impression.
We can’t wait to see what he does for us. For his sake and ours, here’s hoping a lot of Leeds United fans will be asking why he wasn’t played by Bielsa by the time the season ends.
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