He’s gone from playing university football in Japan to the Champions League in the space of three years.
And Ange Postecoglou believes that in another 12 months, Reo Hatate will have taken his game to another level altogether. The 24-year-old midfielder has been outstanding for Celtic since he arrived from Kawasaki Frontale last December. This midweek, Hatate will be a vital cog in the engine room at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid to cap a meteoric rise.
But Postecoglou says there’s more to come from him. On Tuesday night against Shakhtar in the Champions League, he covered every blade of grass at Parkhead. In a midfield two with Matt O’Riley, there was a huge onus on them without Callum McGregor in a Postecoglou shape that demanded a power of work. At times, when Hatate tried to play forward passes that were cut out, there were groans from the crowd. But the Celtic manager says the Japanese’s character will ensure he never stops trying them.
