Anyone that watches the Celtic duo knows that they are a cut above players that are routinely traded around the EPL for £20-30m.
Celtic aren’t short of midfield options but until last Saturday most fans would have started with Callum McGregor and Hatate plus AN Other as their midfield trio.
Hatate looked in absolute top form when Celtic played Yokohama F Marinos and Gamba Osaka but looked badly off the pace in his 45 minute appearance against Athletic Bilbao.
Incredibly Hatate’s fee seemed to involved around £1.2m going to Kawasaki Frontiers, it was a Larsson like steal.
Reo Hatate had the biggest assist possible in the 1-1 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk but that incident where he was almost credited with a goal summed up Celtic’s luck in the Champions League. Bad luck.
That transition was smoother than many anticipated but finding a replacement for Hatate to slot into a side preparing for the Champions League would be a far tougher task.
The 25-year-old still has three years left to run on his Celtic deal. However, money has proven no obstacle for Al Ittihad in other deals and it could prove hard for either club or player to say no given the potential finances involved.