Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has been left impressed by Ange Postecoglou’s eye for a bargain and reckons the success of players in Glasgow will only lead to him unearthing more gems.
The Bhoys announced the signing of Yuki Kobayashi through the week and have been widely tipped to complete a move for Canadian international talent Alistair Johnston.
Sutton was actually taking in Japan’s win over Germany at the World Cup shortly after Kobayashi was confirmed and he reckons others are missing out on a valuable market while Celtic continue to push on.
Writing in his Daily Record column, the former forward said: “Ange Postecoglou ’s eye for the J-League has reaped a reward already and that has been obvious to all. Football is a global game and those who are either unaware or unwilling to scratch below the surface and dig into markets which are often untapped are missing out. It’s getting harder with modern technology and extensive scouting networks to keep anything a secret and managing to source value that no-one else has spotted is difficult.
“But having that knowledge and eye for a region or a type of player and the bravery to trust it is invaluable and Postecoglou’s nous in the Asian market has been crucial to his success in the job. It’s not a secret. As was seen during the Japan victory over the Germans, many of those lads in that side already ply their trade in the Bundesliga and across Europe. 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. You have to be ahead of the game. Get ahead of the curve. That’s always been the case, but it feels now more than ever.”
The breadth of Postecoglou’s recruitment since arriving at the club has undoubtedly been impressive. It’s not just been focused on Japan.
We’ve recruited from the Polish, Argentinian, Russian, French, Scottish, English, Portuguese, Israeli and Dutch leagues over the last 18 months.
Many of them are already busy markets but Celtic have shown they won’t be put off by a player plying their trade in a less illustrious division if their profile is the right one.
If we can continue to be this smart in the transfer market, and sell players at the right time, this could just be the start of another successful Celtic era.
In other news, Celtic share derby spoils with Rangers in tight SWPL1 clash.
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