Reo Hatate lands blockbuster Celtic transfer counsel as cryptic Greg Taylor clue surfaces amid cut price Kyogo talks
The Scottish Cup final stands between the Hoops and a busy summer of transfer business
Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate has been told a move to Serie A would be the perfect fit by Brazil legend Zico.
The 27-year-old has impressed once again for Celtic this term - helping the club to the brink of a domestic Treble this season as well as make a mark on the Champions League.
However, the Japan international will miss the Scottish Cup final having been spotted with crutches during Saturday's Trophy Day celebrations by the Premiership champions.
But for Zico - who managed the Japanese national side while also playing for Udinese - isn't deterred by the knee injury.
Amid reports his former club sent scouts to watch Hatate earlier this season, the Brazilian reckons a move to Italy would be the perfect fit.
He told the Sunday Post: "I spoke recently about Hatate with Toru Oniki, his coach at (Kawaski) Frontale (Hatate's former club. for years.
"He told me that he was a strong, fast player with a winning mentality, who has already won a lot in his career.
"He said he is an excellent player, highly regarded, who can operate well in any position across the midfield.
"All indications are he could do very well. Certainly, I would imagine in Italy, especially with a team like Udinese, where he would have time to settle in better."
Greg Taylor has yet to pen a new deal with just one game left on Celtic's calendar this season.
Kieran Tierney is set to return this summer - and while Brendan Rodgers has insisted he wants to keep Taylor at the club a contract agreement has not been reached.
Following the Celtic Park celebrations after a fourth consecutive Premiership triumph, Taylor wrote 'lived it and loved it' alongside several photos from the trophy presentation.
Some fans have taken the post as a hint that the Scotland international will leave Celtic Park as a free agent - with teammate Alistair Johnston responding to the 27-year-old's post with an image of a child wiping away tears
Things don't always go to plan away from Celtic - as Kyogo Furuhashi knows all too well.
The 30-year-old has endured a nightmare spell with Stade Rennes after he left the Hoops behind in January.
With the Ligue 1 season now over, reports suggest the frontman could be moved on in a cut-price deal.
Ouest-France report Rennes will accept a "fraction" of the £10million they paid for Celtic after he failed to impress Habib Beye.
Following the final day defeat to Marseille, Beye admitted he would sit down with fringe men to discuss their futures.
He said: "There will be a lot of changes within the club.
"We will now be able to sit down and discuss the club's ambitions for next season, to know where everyone wants to go, who wants to be 100% part of the Stade Rennes project."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
19 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Celtic aiming to oust Euro giants for transfer of 21 y/o 'artist' as ex-Parkhead hero told 'find a new club'
Celtic have been linked with an in demand winger. Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Celtic are hoping to beat off competition from a number of clubs on the continent to sign highly-rated youngster Sondre Ørjasæter this summer, with a new report claiming they have opened talks with Sarpsborg 08 over his transfer. The 21-year-old left-winger is believed to be a long term target for Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers, with reports in January stating they had a saw a bid of £4.6million rejected by the Eliteserien outfit in January 2025. It is understood the Norwegian side are looking for a fee in the region of £7million to allow him to leave, though. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Linked with Fiorentina, Nice and Red Bull Salzburg, the Norway under-21 international will be in demand this summer after catching the eye of several European clubs over the last 12 months. Used as an inverted winger at the Sarpsborg Stadion, he is considered one of the country's most exciting young talents, with Norwegian TV pundit and former international striker Håvard Flo describing him as 'an artist.' Celtic are believed to be in the market for attacking reinforcements. | AFP via Getty Images Ørjasæter agreed a new four-year-deal at Sarpsborg as recently as October, and seemed delighted to commit his future to the club, saying: 'I'm having a fantastic time. There's nothing to complain about. It's a great group, good coaches. I'm really enjoying myself at Sarpsborg 08.' However, a fresh report from Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph claims that Celtic are hoping to prize the winger away from Sarpsborg this summer, saying the Scottish champions have 'reopened talks over a potential deal', adding that they will 'face competition from clubs in Germany and The Netherlands, but no concrete offers are on the table as things stand.' Elsewhere, Celtic's title winner former centre-back Kristoffer Ajer has been told to 'find a new club' by international head coach Stale Solbakken after falling out of favour at Brentford following an injury-hit campaign. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Norway international spent four trophy laden seasons at Celtic Park, winning four Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups, before he was prized away by the Bees for a fee of £13million in the summer of 2021. He has gone on to be a pivotal figure for Thomas Frank's side as they've established themselves in the top flight, but has found himself restricted to appearances in an unfamiliar position of right-back over the last 12 months, leading for calls from his international manager to switch clubs this summer. 'He can be a very good and stable centre-back, and he was today, but he has to change clubs," said Solbakken. 'He cannot play right-back in every third game if he is to be a proper, safe and good centre-back. Because he has all the prerequisites.' (Photo by) "I think Ajer would have been better suited to playing centre-back in another league. He has had some tough injuries in England. He will never be a super right-back, at the same level as he is as a centre-back. At the age he is now, I think he is allowed to put his foot down. You can't be a 'cover' right-back at his age now. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Celtic transfer explosion as Balikwisha talks 'personal terms', striker on brink and Angulo brings the house down
The Premiership champions are racing ahead in their pursuit of fresh arrivals with three wingers linked Persistent Celtic have restarted talks with long-term target Michel-Ange Balikwisha with discussions over personal terms underway – according to a leading report in Belgium. The Royal Antwerp winger has been on the Parkhead signing radar over the previous two windows and now the former Red Devils' U21 star is expected to leave his homeland this summer. Now signing insider Sacha Tavolieri states the Premiership champions have triggered dialogue with the coveted wide man. Balikwisha directly addressed Celtic earlier this year but admitted his injury issues kiboshed any potential switch to Glasgow. Celtic are honing in on fresh impetus in wide areas with Jota out for the long term and fellow starter Nicolas Kuhn widely expected to attract interest from elsewhere in the coming months. And that means Balikwisha isn't the only winger on the agenda with fellow Jupiler Pro League star Nilson Angulo attracting interest with reports in Belgium claiming Celtic had an initial bid tossed out. The 21-year-old started Ecuador's gutsy 0-0 draw away to Peru which sealed their qualification for the World Cup in North America. And now Anderlecht are braced for fresh interest in a player who has enjoyed a stratospheric rise since leaving him homeland in 2022. Another winger who could also be back in the mix is Sondre Ørjasæter with Sky Sports claiming the £7m-rated Sarpsborg star remains high on the agenda. Boss Brendan Rodgers appears to be getting the front-foot window he craves with Kieran Tierney signed, sealed and delivered and Ross Doohan soon to follow as the third-choice goalkeeper after Scott Bain's exit. And the next signing appears imminent with Callum Osmand set to sign a long-term deal after being tempted north from the Fulham B team. The Wales youth international turned heads last season but will join the Premiership champions despite being wanted to become a part of the Cottagers' first team. Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to your phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Why Tartan army pine for Postecoglou over cautious Clarke
The mock-ups of the big Aussie clad in tartan were sparked by the dismal display from the Scottish national team in their defeat to Iceland. An end of season friendly, which thanks to tickets being priced at up to £45 a skull was played out in front of 20,000-odd empty seats at Hampden, hardly needed a dose of Steve Clarke pragmatism to make it any less of an enticing prospect. That's what the Tartan Army got though, with the Scotland manager stringing five across the back and a lone striker up top against a side who had recently been turned over by Kosovo. Which is fine, if you win, but a demoralising 3-1 defeat that left Clarke's record standing at just four wins from his last 21 games had the sgian dubhs out for the national team's head coach. Not only was there a clamour for the Scottish FA to relieve Clarke of his duties, but also a mini clamour to replace him with the recently sacked Postecoglou. Or, if you like, the anti-Clarke. (Image: SNS Group) The obstacles in appointing the former Celtic manager as Clarke's replacement, coming as he is out of a job at Tottenham Hotspur where he trousered around £5m a year, are obvious. Clarke is the highest paid Scotland manager in history, at around a tenth of that figure. The hefty payoff from Spurs may have convinced Postecoglou that he can move into semi-retirement by going back to international football, and he has been linked with a short-term sojourn in Italy to help the Azzurri navigate the departure of Luciano Spalletti, in fairness. But I'd say the prospect of him returning to Glasgow any time soon - at least to Hampden - are remote at best. Read more: Not forgetting the inconvenient fact that both SFA president Mike Mulraney and CEO Ian Maxwell have not the slightest desire to remove Clarke from his position, believing steadfastly that he 'deserves the chance' to take his country to a World Cup. No matter if his presence reduces the chances that the rest of us will get to enjoy one. What the Scotland fans calling for Postecoglou were really saying though was that they want a manager who will go on the front foot. Who will look to make the most of the talented players Scotland now undoubtedly have at their disposal, rather than filling them with the fear of God by setting them up so defensively. The Tartan Army have watched Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson not only impress in Serie A, but stand out, and win things. That these guys are Scottish is a source of huge excitement, but the feeling among the rank and file is that Clarke doesn't know how to set them up in order to replicate their dazzling club form into the international arena. Instead of swaggering onto the field, they are stymied. Compare and contrast the approach of Wales against Belgium on Monday night under Craig Bellamy. In his pre-match press conference, the former Celtic striker laid out in no uncertain terms that his team wouldn't be going to Brussels to camp in or take a backwards step. Now, granted, they were soon pinned back in any case and went 3-0 down in a nightmare opening 25-minute spell. But even then, Bellamy resisted the temptation to tighten things up and simply look to stem the bleeding. Instead, a goal back from the penalty spot just before half time reinvigorated his team, and he sent them out in the second half to go for the jugular. Thrillingly, they deservedly clawed the score back level, before Kevin De Bruyne broke their hearts late on by hitting a winner. Ultimately, they lost the game. But you ask any Wales fan their view of Bellamy and his approach, and they will tell you resoundingly that their manager got it spot on. Clarke is sometimes unfairly maligned. Overall, he was the right man at the right time for Scotland, and his work in getting the nation back to the European Championships not once, but twice, should mean that he has earned the gratitude of the nation for his service. But once, where his caution was an asset, it has now become the noose around his neck. After a bafflingly conservative approach to the must-win game against Hungary at the Euros, where history was there to be made, he had to show a response. And in the Nations League, he did latterly look to play some more expansive football, shifting to a back four and earning some good results. But when it came to the crunch in the second leg of the Nations League relegation playoff against Greece, his old cautious instincts cost him again. The only change he made from the energy-sapping first leg win in Athens was to take Ferguson out of the midfield for 33-year-old Kenny McLean. The Greeks, by contrast, made six changes, and ran over the top of his side. (Image: Alan Harvey - SNS Group) In a home friendly against Iceland, to revert to his old back five to shoehorn Kieran Tierney into the team seemed like a frustrating, retrograde step. And was a worrying portent for how he may look to approach the World Cup qualifiers. The 4-0 win over Liechtenstein on Monday evening with a good old fashioned 4-4-2 has to be caveated against the level of the opposition, but at least there were some promising signs within it. Lennon Miller got his first start, and impressed in the midfield. There were five debuts in all, though only emergency keeper Ross Doohan was on from the start. Josh Doig caught the eye, getting half an hour or so along with Andy Irving, but Connor Barron and Kieron Bowie might have expected more than 13 minutes to impress against such lowly opponents and with Scotland in cruise control. Even in this, there was this nagging whiff of conservatism from Clarke at which many among the Tartan Army are now turning up their nose. He could do with blowing away that stench by going out on the front foot in the World Cup qualifiers, and if this is to be his last campaign, as he has intimated it is likely to be, at least go out on his sword. Failure to get to the World Cup is one thing, and quite possible given that Greece and Denmark are in Scotland's section. Failure to have a go, and at least give this group of players a chance, will be more difficult to forgive. Clarke has nothing left to lose but his legacy. Fairly or not, he will likely be remembered for how he approaches this World Cup. If he makes it, he will be a legend, and his critics will bow to him. As will the Tartan Army. If he fails, and does so by playing cautious football, he will enrage the fans, and it will be a sad end to his reign. He may as well go out swinging.
