Two years on from undergoing a major rebuild at Celtic, Ange Postecoglou is going to have to do likewise at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. On course to succeed Antonio Conte in the hotseat, the Australian and the club's new managing director of football will be tasked with getting Tottenham back on track.
Plenty needs to be done in north London to ensure Spurs do not fall even further behind their rivals and once again miss out on a Champions League finish. Requiring a new manager that can play the type of football that the club are known for, it was always going to be vital for Daniel Levy to find someone with experience of rebuilding a team.
Dominating Scottish football for the past decade, Postecoglou arrived at Celtic Park with morale extremely low in the camp after they had lost the league title to fierce rivals Rangers. Not only had they surrendered their trophy, they finished an incredible 25 points behind Steven Gerrard's men.
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An absolute disaster for the club from the east end of Glasgow, a huge overhaul of the playing staff took place as Postecoglou looked to rebuild Celtic and get them on top once again. Kristoffer Ajer, Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard were all high-profile departures, with long-serving captain Scott Brown joining Aberdeen on a free transfer following the conclusion of his contract.
Celtic were extremely busy in terms of incomings as Postecoglou built a brand new starting XI to take the club forward again. Joe Hart and Cameron Carter-Vickers arrived from Tottenham, with Josip Juranovic and Carl Starfelt coming in to strengthen in defence following Ajer's move to Brentford.
Liel Abada and Jota proved to be shrewd signings to bolster their attack, but perhaps the most notable aspect of Postecoglou's transfer business was his decision to dip into the Japanese market and sign players from the J.League.
Taking charge of Yokohama F. Marinos in 2018 after his time working in his homeland, Postecoglou was well aware of the quality in the league and immediately made a £4.5million move for Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe. In the winter market, the experienced boss returned to Japan to complete deals for Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda.
The January addition of Matt O'Riley from MK Dons for £1.5million also proved to be a very good acquisition with the midfielder playing a key role in their title success. At the start of 2023, Postecoglou again returned to Asia in order to further strengthen his Celtic squad.
Yuki Kobayashi and South Korea international Hyeon-gyu Oh both joined on permanent deals, with Tomoki Iwata sealing a loan move from the manager's former club Yokohama F. Marinos. From his additions from Asia, it is undoubtedly Kyogo, Hatate and Maeda who have made the biggest impact north of the border.
Hitting 20 goals in his first 33 games for Celtic, Kyogo improved on his tally in the 2022/23 campaign and netted 34 goals in 50 appearances for the Bhoys, including one in last Saturday's Scottish Cup final win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It is perhaps no surprise to see why there has been talk of the 28-year-old striker following in Postecoglou's footsteps and completing a transfer to Tottenham from Celtic.
If that is to be the case, Celtic will make a big profit on the £4.5million they paid out in July 2021 to sign the Japan international. Postecoglou has already helped the Bhoys make a profit on a couple of players he brought to the club in 2021.
Juranovic, who was signed from Legia Warsaw for £2.5million, came to the attention of Union Berlin following his performances and was snapped up for £7.5million, seeing Celtic make £5million on the Croat in the space of 18 months. They also sold Giorgos Giakoumakis to Atlanta United for £4.5million after purchasing him from VVV-Venlo for £2.5million.
Working his magic at Parkhead, Postecoglou's rebuild could well drop a hint over what could come at Tottenham over the next couple of windows. As he knows the Japanese league so well, he may elect to speak with the club's new managing director of football about potentially moving for players currently starring in the J.League.
The same goes for Scotland as well as Postecoglou has spent the past two seasons in the Scottish Premiership and he will be well aware of those who can make the step up to the Premier League. Making some incredibly impressive signings at Celtic and helping them hit the next level under his guidance in the process, all Tottenham fans will be keeping a close eye on what Postecoglou and the managing director of football do in the summer transfer market.
Clearly someone with an eye for a player and knowledge of leagues abroad, Tottenham really could be on to a winner if the Australian's transfer dealings prove to be as successful in north London as they were in Glasgow.
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