Celtic’s new Japanese trio all appear to be making the right impression at Lennoxtown early on.
The Hoops are preparing for the resumption of the Premiership campaign against Hibernian on Monday night. However, they’re doing so with some new faces in their ranks.
Indeed, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and Yosuke Ideguchi all joined from the J-League before the January window even begun. All 3 have been playing a huge part in training too as they look to make an immediate impact. And it’s fair to say they’re doing just that.
Both Ange Postecoglou and Greg Taylor both took to press conferences that were later published by Celtic on Youtube. It’s fair to say both have been impressed with how all 3 have taken to their new club so far too.
Firstly, Ange said: “Obviously we got the new recruits in nice and early which was the plan and thankfully it all came together. They got here for a brand new year so from the first training session since the resumption which is good. It’s always good when you get new players in.
“They’re all different players and bring different things to the table. I think they’re all pretty excited about being here. The lads who are here, if you bring in quality players then they get excited as well to see what they can bring. They’ve fitted in really well so far.”
Taylor, meanwhile, stated in his interview: “I would say they’ve settled in really well. They’ve all got fantastic work ethic, but I think that’s something all of our signings have had this year. So that’s been beneficial. But the more there’s that work ethic and that type of quality then it’s only going to improve us.”
The lesser adaption time needed, the better for Celtic
We get it. The manager is never going to come out and say his players struggled in their first training sessions. Even less so will players ever come out and state it either. That’s not how it works.
But there does appear to be a genuine excitement over how much Celtic actually bolstered their squad with this move. This doesn’t just feel as if we’ve gotten more bodies in the door. It feels like proper upgrades.
The fact all 3 played in a closed-doors game against St Mirren yesterday is another promising sign for Celtic supporters. That suggests there are no injury niggles being carried around with them that we were unaware of.
Postecoglou didn’t confirm today whether he would be throwing any of them in against Hibernian. However, we know better than to bet against it. Ange has always shown that he likes a curveball from time to time.
It was also shown in the summer that putting Kyogo Furuhashi straight in at the deep end worked a treat. There’s no reason that can’t be the same for the new trio considering how confidently they’ve started life in Scotland.
As time ticks along closer to Hibernian’s arrival on Monday night, the excitement levels continue to grow around these 3.
In other news, When Jota will be back available for Celtic selection after return to training
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