REO HATATE is smiles better at Celtic these days.
The Japanese player stalled last season in his progress at the champions and his starts in the first team were curtailed with a series of injuries.
Questions were asked about Hatate’s worth to the team as he spent too much time watching from the sidelines instead of being out in the thick of the action and fulfilling the promise he showed in his early appearances following his January 2022 recruitment along with Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi.
Just a month after his arrival, the classy midfielder’s first-half double in the 3-0 derby triumph over Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox side fired the Hoops to the top of the Premiership for the first time in 18 months.
However, he faltered at the beginning of Brendan Rodgers’ comeback campaign and lost out on a certain place in the top side.
REO BRAVO…the Celtic midfielder blasts in Celtic’s final goal in the 3-1 win over RB Leipzig.
Hatate’s lung-bursting performance in the superb 3-1 Champions League triumph over RB Leipzig at a rocking Parkhead on Tuesday emphasised he had returned to the sort of form that saw him become an instant hero with the champions’ followers.
Former Hoops goal hero Chris Sutton is delighted at the re-emergence of the international and said: “The Japanese is back to where I thought he’d be a year ago.
“Front and centre and dominating games at Europe’s highest level. For all the accolades handed out to Celtic’s players this week, Hatate’s display was the most noteworthy in my book for a variety of reasons.
“Brendan Rodgers has huge performers throughout his unit right now and I cannot remember seeing a Celtic side control a game at that level against such high-quality opposition in the competition.
“Sure, they took five off Slovan Bratislava, but RB Leipzig was different. They are second-best right now in the Bundesliga and they were most certainly second-best in midweek.
“Nicolas Kuhn is, naturally, taking most headlines for his goals and I’ve no idea how the team are going to replace Callum McGregor when the day comes for him to finish.
HAIL HATATE…the Hoops marksman celebrates his lightning Champions League strike.
“Mercifully for my old club, that’s a while away yet because he was just sublime against Leipzig.
“McGregor just makes things look so easy. He just does things in under-pressure situations where others buckle and blunder.
“The captain knits everything together and he’s been that way for quite some time. His consistency of performance is always there.
“Which is why my eye has been drawn back to Hatate.”
Sutton, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “In the second season of Ange Postecoglou, the midfielder he brought to Scotland was just outstanding.
“Kyogo Furuhashi may have won the Player of the Year Awards for his goals, but I felt Hatate should have been the recipient and I said so at the time.
“How the Japanese boys who were signed by Postecoglou were going to respond to his departure for Spurs was a big topic at the time. And, although Kyogo and Daizen Maeda kept up seamless good form for Rodgers, Hatate’s career ascent flattened off.
“The fact the boss opted to select David Turnbull ahead of him at the beginning of last season made you wonder what was going on.
“No offence to Turnbull who is a fine player in his own right, but he’s not at Hatate levels and the manager wouldn’t have been leaving him out just for the sake of it.
TAKE-OFF…Reo Hatate is flying high as he celebrates his strike for Celtic’s third goal in the 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig with Daizen Maeda and Alex Valle about to add their congratulations.
“Something wasn’t right, that seemed clear. And then when he did manage to get into the side and show his qualities, he kept breaking down. Instead of running Champions League games last season, he missed out too often due to injury.
“From shining light and potential superstar with the world at his feet, the Asian had stalled and was fighting to recapture his best.”
The one-time England international striker added: “I’m pretty sure no-one would have been more frustrated at that than Hatate himself and he’s had the gauntlet thrown down to him this season with the permanent signing of Paulo Bernardo coupled with the arrivals of Arne Engels and Luke McCowan.
“Crucially, Hatate must be catching the only two eyes that really count. Those of Rodgers.
“Four Champions League games so far and Hatate has started in three of them. Old Firm game. Started. Cup semi-final against Aberdeen. Started.
“That tells you what he’s delivering for Rodgers on a day-to-day basis and something else has caught my attention with Hatate over the past week.
FLAT OUT…Reo Hatate is prone on the pitch at the full-time whistle.
“I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt that, at times, he wasn’t getting through games. When the subs board went up after an hour or so, you sensed he would be one to get replaced.
“Myth or not, it happened plenty in the past. But he’s blown that notion out of the water this week.
“When the numbers went up seven days ago at Hampden, Hatate’s was never sighted. The full 90 minutes against the Dons and he was at it right until the end.
“He doubled down on that spectacularly against Leipzig. Although absolutely superb in the first hour, many in the stadium were still slightly surprised when it was Engels who made way for Bernardo against the Germans and not the Japanese.
“Hatate justified Rodgers’ faith and more. Not only did he grow even stronger in that last hour, he added his first-ever Champions League goal to seal the deal.
“Make no mistake, that 90-minute performance of that quality against that standard of opponent is a real statement from the player of where’s at once again.
“Hatate is back to that thrilling best with outrageous talent and an engine to keep it all running.
“At 26, he’s five years older than Engels, four more than Bernardo and looks to be really grasping that senior-figure responsibility.”
