CELTIC are on the brink of sealing their sensational triple swoop on the J-League with priority targets Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi heading for Parkhead.
The daring deals are just about signed, sealed and are about to be delivered in time to join Ange Postecoglou’s squad as early as next week.
New chief executive Michael Nicholson had been working tirelessly in the background on the contracts, personal terms, medicals and work permits and the club are now poised to trigger the exciting three-man arrival, as CQN reported TWENTY-SEVEN DAYS ago.
NUMBER ONE…Daizen Maeda celebrates another of his many goals last season.
Postecoglou is determined to continue to strengthen his squad for the rigours of action at home and abroad in the New Year and the good news for Hoops fans is that there is likely to be more new recruits before the Premiership restart against Hibs in Glasgow on January 17, five days ahead of their Scottish Cup opener at Alloa.
Striker Maeda and midfielder Ideguchi are already in the UK and Hatate is set to travel over the coming days, according to media reports in their homeland. The players should be registered with the SFA next week.
NUMBER TWO…midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi is on the ball.
Postecoglou, of course, knows the Japanese market well after his spell as manager of Yokohama F Marinos and actually bought Maeda to the club in a £750,000 move on February 1 this year.
The 24-year-old frontman, who scored 22 goals in the J-League last season, will originally arrive on a loan deal and, if everything goes according to plan, he will join on a permanent basis in the summer with a fee of £1.7million agreed between the clubs.
Ideguchi’s fee of £850,000 has already been agreed with his club Gamba Osaka and a similar cash transaction will take Hatate from Kawasaki Frontale.
NUMBER THREE…Reo Hatate will complete the hat-trick of Far East arrivals at Celtic.
All three will team up with Kyogo Furuhashi who joined from Vissel Kobe in late July for £4.6million and has already netted 16 goals – including a double in the Premier Sports League Cup Final win over Hibs – to make him an instant hit with the Parkhead faithful.
Postecoglou has also been linked with former Manchester United prospect Deji Sotana with the 19-year-old Ireland-born winger poised to quit OGC Nice in the coming weeks while Austria flanker Hannes Wolf has also been monitored with the £4.5million buy from RB Leipzig in July last year ready to leave Borussia Monchengladbach.
While Postecoglou and Nicholson work feverishly to bring in players, there will be a few on their way out with Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti, Boli Bolingoli and Ismaila Soro among possible exits.
