Reo Hatate has already smoothly shown he can walk the walk at Celtic. Now Stiliyan Petrov believes that, once the Japanese can fluently talk the talk, he will explode onto new heights at Parkhead.
Petrov says he “loves” Hatate as a player having seen enough of his burgeoning talents already during an impressive five-month opening to his life in Glasgow. Arriving in January just turned 24, he, like Petrov back in 1999, had to get to grips with the various issues which surround a youngster settling into a new country and environment.
Petrov has been there. A young midfielder facing big expectations, it’s not easy to integrate straight away with a new language to learn and culture to understand. He knows what Hatate faced. He knows the frustrations he would feel at times and says the Asian ace will only get better as those limitations and restrictions ease. Asked to pick the hardest thing about adapting, Petrov smiled: “Everything!”
