Former Celtic midfielder Simon Donnelly has praised Reo Hatate and says Hoops fans should "enjoy him while he is here".
The Japanese midfielder returned to action earlier this month after being out for four week and scored his first goal of the season against Livingston recently.
While there have been reports that the 25-year-old could be set to extend his stay at Parkhead, Donnelly feels Celtic supporters should appreciate what the playmaker is doing right now.
Speaking to Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, he said: There has been talk of a new contract. He came back, he was injured and whether Ange leaving had an effect on him we don’t know, we can only speculate looking from the outside.
"But he’s got himself back. He is getting fitter, he’s getting stronger as I said there, there is no doubt in my mind Celtic are a better team with Reo Hatate in the midfield.
“If he was to sign a long contract it doesn’t guarantee anything in modern-day football other than Celtic would command a bigger fee should he move on.
"But it may just give a little bit of positivity there for the Celtic fans, you know that he’s going to maybe be here for the rest of this season and hopefully longer.
"I think these are the type of players that Celtic want to try and hold on to and while it’s difficult when teams from down south come in with a lot of money, it’s very difficult to keep your players.
"But enjoy him while he is here because I think he’s one of the top players in Celtic’s team."
