As he sees Hatate advance towards goal his opponent is well aware of the threat posed, he slows down his run then drives his elbow into the back of Hatate’s neck bringing the move to an end.
Brendan Rodgers has barely had the chance to work with the Japanese midfielder but if all goes well the 26-year-old could be ready for a key role in the run-in to the season.
At Aberdeen in August he suffered a calf injury coming off the bench, against Atletico Madrid at home in October his match was over after seven minutes due to a hamstring injury.
After two appearances in the group stage Hatate was in Japan’s Starting XI for the last 16 tie against Bahrain, sadly he only lasted 34 minutes, sitting down on the turf before having to go off.
Hatate returned to Japan as part of his rehab but was back on the training ground today ahead of Saturday’s Glasgow Derby.
This season has been a strange one, pre-season in Japan he looked better than ever but an indifferent 45 minutes at home to Athletic Bilbao at the time of transfer speculation seemed to carry consequences.
The main activity was at the other end of the park with Celtic’s two first half goalscorers the main sources of creativity.
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.
The problems Celtic face with Hatate and Abada, and probably Matt O’Riley is that they are already on long term deals with relatively modest wages.
Following the Glasgow Derby Celtic don’t play again until September 16 when they host Dundee which probably eases the decision on Hatate for Ibrox.