Reo Hatate’s comments on his future career aspirations seem to have caused a bit of a stir over the course of this afternoon. Rumours that Spurs are possibly interested in Hatate have been circulating this week but Celtic’s stance on that is clear.
The Celtic midfielder was interviewed by Goal in Japan and was asked what he thought about his future career.
Hatate said [Goal], “I still want to step up and play in different leagues if I get the chance. As a footballer, I think everyone wants to play at a high level throughout the season.
“I want to play at a high level because I feel that if I don’t get to that point, it doesn’t mean that I have challenged myself abroad.”
Hatate was then asked if moving to Celtic has helped him to realise his ambition of playing in one of Europe’s big leagues.
Hatate continued, “When I was in the J-League, it was like ‘impossible’ to want to play in one of the five major leagues. But because I achieved some results with Celtic over the course of the season, I felt that I wanted to take on the next challenge. If there is a chance, I want to challenge.
“Of course, if I stay with this team, I will still be able to gain good experience, and next season we have the Champions League. I think that by always fighting at the top of the table, you become mentally stronger, so there are many good things if I stay.
“However, I have had a good experience of that, so I would like to play in a higher league.” [translated by Deep L]
First off, there is absolutely nothing wrong with what Hatate has said here. The Celtic fans have known for a long while that quality players always have the ambition to move onto a bigger stage.
We have witnessed this for decades as players like Kenny Dalglish, Charlie Nicholas and Frank McAvennie all went to ply their trade in England.
More recently, Moussa Dembele, Odsonne Edouard, Kieran Tierney and Josip Juranovic have all done the same thing.
It’s not a slight on the club but merely a by-product of where we play our football.
But the reason why Hatate’s ambition to test himself at a higher level is good news for us is simple. If teams from the biggest leagues are interested in our players, it means we are being successful. Not just domestically, but in Europe as well.
Celtic didn’t command fees of £25m for Kieran Tierney or £19m for Moussa Dembele just because of our domestic results. They were also performing on the European stage as well.
Look, obviously, we want to keep our best players at the club. That’s without question, but we all know that it’s not every players ambition to see out their career at Celtic.
They come to us as a springboard to move onto a bigger league. And the majority of Celtic fans accept and are happy with that.
If they perform, win trophies, improve our performances and at the end of that earn Celtic a huge transfer fee then so be it. That’s how it’s been for years and when Hatate’s time eventually does come, that’s how it will be for him too.
In other news, Report: Dermot Desmond holds new London talks; pivotal moment for Celtic and Rodgers
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