Kris Boyd’s imagination has already got Reo Hatate halfway out of Celtic.
The body language expert seems to be ignoring his own signals and is picking up distress levels from the midfielder that will lead to his departure. With a contract until 2026 Celtic are firmly in the driving seat.
If Boyd is looking to stir things up with a contract expiring he should turn his expert eye towards David Turnbull who is into the final year of his Celtic deal.
Of more interest to the former Scotland striker is the situation at Ibrox where Borna Barisic, Kemar Roofe, Ryan Jack and John Lundstram are in the final season of their contracts.
Sharing his Celtic ‘worries’, Boyd tells The Sun:
MAYBE Reo Hatate has done something to annoy Brendan Rodgers. Perhaps the Japanese midfielder had an attitude problem within the dressing room.
Perhaps he is a lazy trainer and in a rush to get stuck into his Monster Munch Lunch Box?
Boyd continued:
Or possibly there was a wee streak of arrogance that shone through when the Celtic manager first took charge.
Whatever it was, there’s clearly something that explains why Hatate lost his place in the team.No harm to David Turnbull, but don’t try to tell me he’s a better player than Hatate.
Yet he was the one who started the first two games of the season? Sorry, that makes no sense. Now there’s talk of Celtic opening negotiations with Hatate over a new contract. Chat that Rodgers is eager to get him on a long-term deal.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out because all the signs so far are that Hatate was heading towards the exit door.
Then again, Rodgers does see himself as a people person, so you could see him trying to facilitate an offer if he believes Hatate is all-in at Celtic.
Any issue can’t have been down to his workrate, by the way, because Hatate does more running in his post-match warm-down than most players do during games.
But everyone can see his body language has changed from last season and if that’s causing friction behind the scenes, Celtic would be better off getting rid. The calf injury he picked up at Aberdeen maybe rules out a move in this window anyway.
But if he doesn’t sign a new contract soon, I would expect him to be sold in January. How would that leave Celtic in the midfield department? Well, it’s not like they’re short of players in that area, is it?
It seems that Boyd’s brain is racing several steps ahead of reality as wishful thinking overwhelms him.
Hatate is under contract for three more seasons, it would be good to give him a serious hike in salary for an additional years but if that isn’t happening he will be sold on Celtic’s terms.
While a certain other club managed to lose out on £20m windfalls for Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent Celtic do tend to manage contracts pretty well.
If someone is entering the final season of their deal chances are that they are looking to move on.
Kris Ajer and Odsonne Edouard were sold in the summer of 2021 with the funds used to lay the foundations for five of the next six domestic trophies.
1 Comment
by Scouse bhoy
Another roaster who lives in hope.