Celtic midfielder, Yosuke Ideguchi has returned to first-team action at his loan club Avispa Fukuoka after a lengthy three-month absence. The 26-year-old broke his ankle back in March for the J League side and has now fully recovered.
Ideguchi appeared as a second-half substitute but couldn’t stop his side from losing 2-1 to Gamba Osaka. And the midfielder couldn’t hide his joy as he revealed he made his return ahead of schedule.
Idgeguchi said [The Herald], “I’m so happy to get back on the pitch. I returned quicker than I imagined and worked very hard in rehabilitation to get back to full fitness.
“I got a warm reception from the supporters too. Now it is all about trying to get as much game time as possible to make up for lost time.
Ideguchi has also spoken out on the motivation that led him to leave Celtic to head back to Japan on loan.
The midfielder said, “I was ready to go at the start of the season, but got another injury and it set me back.
“But the problem in Scotland is there are very few reserve matches. I felt I was training for the sake of training.
“For that reason, I asked to leave the club because I was out of the manager’s plans and I wanted to be in a team where I was involved.
“Then the World Cup came and I was so inspired by watching it. I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing stagnating here?’
“I was jealous and I vowed to try and get my career back.
“I was 26 and at rock bottom. I know to have any chance of making the Japan team for the next World Cup I have to play. So I returned to Japan with a lot of determination.”
How does Yosuke Ideguchi’s Celtic future look?
I think if we are honest with ourselves, Ideguchi may be that one signing from Japan that simply won’t work out for Celtic.
After joining the club alongside Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate in January 2022, Ideguchi had to bide his time for some minutes on the park as Hatate and Matt O’Riley form kept him out the side.
An unfortunate injury garnered on his first start against Alloa compounded the poor start to his career as he watched Hatate and Maeda go from strength to strength.
It may be that when he returns from his loan spell he could regard next season as a fresh start. Especially if Ange Postecoglou decides to move on, but he will have a tough task getting in ahead of Aaron Mooy on the bench, never mind displacing Hatate or O’Riley.
Let’s hope he continues his return from injury and gets a decent run of games under his belt now that his injury nightmare is behind him.
In other news, Celtic legend thrills fans on his travels with an impromptu visit to watch Celtic win the treble
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