Sky Sports pundit and former Premier League winner Micah Richards has heaped praise on Ange Postecoglou’s recruitment at Celtic.
He has been left in awe of the way in which Celtic have worked the market in Asia but reckons that the bargains which the Hoops have picked up in recent times won’t be about for too much longer.
Having spent three years in Japan and got to know the J-League market very well which allowed him to turn to the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda who have all became firm favourites at Parkhead.
He once again returned to the market in January to add the J-League’s MVP Tomoki Iwata and centre back Yuki Kobayashi to bolster his squad. All players look to have settled in well to life in Glasgow apart from Yosuke Ideguchi who headed back to his homeland on a year-long loan deal [Read more here].
The net was also cast further afield in Asia as the Scottish champions brought in 21-year-old South Korean forward Oh Hyeon-gyu.
For Celtic to be able to compete in European football, they aren’t going to be able to outspend opposition teams so have to be clever about the market.
“They have got some good players but you have to (shop in other markets), not everyone is going to the same market for players. Bigger clubs might want to delve in these markets but they need a player who is ready-made,” said Richards speaking on [BBC Radio 5 Live].
“Japanese players want to learn and Celtic is a massive club to show what you can do. Players like Virgil Van Dijk playing up there and going to the Premier League, so massive credit to them, long may it continue.
“But the better they perform, the more expensive they will become, so a lot more people will delve into that market now. It’s a good thing for them and the players they are recruiting. But it’s also a bad thing as now maybe some of the bigger clubs who don’t usually go in that market won’t go to the likes of Celtic.”
Postecoglou won’t be too worried whether other clubs take notice or not as he has likely refrained from heading into markets which he wants to explore as for instance, the club signed their very first Argentinian player last summer in Alexandro Bernabei.
