This week, the talk on social media has been that Celtic’s “Japanese era” is over.
Daizen Maeda is set to join Ipswich, whilst Reo Hatate is also expected to imminently depart, having publicly hinted as much.
Both men will be calling an end to four-and-a-half years in Glasgow. Hatate was a fan favourite in his early years, whilst Maeda has emerged as a heroic figure over the last two seasons. Both gave us unforgettable memories.
Celtic’s use of the J-League market has been the subject of debate among fans, but the incredible value provided by the aforementioned pair is inarguable.
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Critics have pointed to the flop signings of Yuki Kobayashi, Yosuke Ideguchi as evidence that the J-League doesn’t have a good enough “hit-rate” to be consistently relied upon by the club.
This is a nonsense suggestion.
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Whilst the hits have been some of Celtic’s best-value signings ever, the misses have been far from remotely damaging to a club with over £70 million in the bank.
Ideguchi was brought to the club for £850,000, recouping that exact fee when sold a year later. Kobayashi was a free transfer.
For the club to abandon the market that gave them Maeda, Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi for £7 million out of fear of low-risk flops like Kobayashi would be profoundly daft.
Then there’s the infamous pair of “club signings”, Hayato Inamura and Shin Yamada. The issues with those two are surely self-explanatory; far from a damning indictment on the J-League.
Reports from analytics companies such as Twenty First Group and SkillCorner have regularly named it as the best-value market in world football in recent years.
Watching the Japanese national team helps you understand why.
If Celtic want to avoid the financial embarrassment of signings like Michel-Ange Balikwisha, they should look no further than the Japanese market in which they are already somewhat established.
Signing players who have established themselves among the best in the country (Kyogo, Hatate) rather than players with just 28 appearances (Inamura) or regularly named on the bench (Yamada) would help, mind.
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Martin O’Neill on Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda
Discussing the pair last week, O’Neill said: “I think that Reo has done exceptionally well at the football club since he arrived.
“People have said he might even have been the best player in Scotland two or three years ago.
“I think, myself, that he’s probably looking to maybe see if there’s new pastures for him.
“I’ll see how it goes with him here when he’s there. So, like everything else, during this particular time, it’s a bit unsettling for players, a wee bit like Maeda. So, you just don’t know.
“I’d love to keep him [Maeda] at the football club. He’s done brilliantly, and he’s got a year left to run.
“But I said to him, if he left the football club, I would be obviously disappointed, but he couldn’t have done any more for us.”
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