Reo Hatate has offered some interesting insight in a rare Celtic TV interview.
The Japanese midfielder agreed a new five-year contract last week, committing his future to Celtic until 2028.
It has been a testing summer for Hatate, with injuries and transfer speculation leading him to spend some time out of Brendan Rodgers‘ starting line-up.
Now, however, he seems to be finding his feet. In a rare interview with the club’s in-house media, he spoke about Rodgers, his happiness at Celtic, his adoring supporters and more.
“Personally, I picked up an injury and it has been a short period of time working together,” Hatate said of his manager.
“However, he knows football and has a lot of experience. I’m really happy that he values me, but I haven’t shown everything that I have yet.
“Of course, I’m trying to give 100% and my condition needs to be better. So I want to improve my level quickly and I want to respond to the manager’s trust by performing well. I’m not satisfied just yet but I’m very happy to play under the new manager.
“I’m really happy to play in front of the Celtic supporters. The fans of our club have so much passion and I would like to give them more memorable moments so let’s enjoy it all together.” (Celtic TV)
Hatate has always been pretty harsh on himself in these media outings. He has high demands and always wants to keep improving.
He will know he can do much more than he has so far this campaign. Even in recent weeks, he has done the odd good thing, but we all know that his overall performance can be better.
On his day, he has the ability to run games even at Champions League level. We’re yet to properly see that. If he manages to get to that point, it will be very beneficial to both the player and the club, on and off the pitch.
For now, he seems happy, motivated and ready to hit some heights under Rodgers. We keep hearing good things. Now we just need to see it play out on the pitch.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers explains contentious Celtic substitution against Lazio
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