Since Ange Postecoglou has come to Glasgow, Celtic fans have often reached out to Japanese/Australian based journalists when it comes to gauging an opinion on the manager or potential signings.
Japanese based reported Dan Orlowitz has been a go-to for the latest developments on Celtic’s links to players in the J-League, with Ange looking to use his knowledge and contacts of the Asian leagues to add to his Hoops squad.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Orlowitz gave his thoughts on the Hoops latest links to Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, with the two players appearing to be edging closer to a move to Parkhead.
“If Hatate and Maeda go for anything less than £2.5m to £3m, it’s highway robbery,” he said as quoted by Football Scotland.
“These are young players whose future lies with the national team; they just represented Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, could represent Japan at the 2022 World Cup and one or two World Cups beyond that.
“So it’s insane I’m seeing numbers like £1.5m for Maeda.
“I’ve heard that (Kawasaki) Frontale want £2.4m for Hatate, which is fairer. Everyone knows what Celtic paid for Furuhashi.
“All the clubs are going to want to make sure they’re not getting done over with an overly inexpensive transfer fee or a free transfer.”
With the latest fees being suggested for both Maeda and Hatate, the journalist stated that Celtic would be getting a bargain, describing it as ‘daylight robbery’ for players of their quality.
We have already seen the success of Kyogo Furuhashi since making a move from the J-League to Celtic, so it is a no-brainer to trust Ange Postecoglou’s knowledge when it comes to players from Japan.
It is also clear to see he can spot a bargain in the country he used to work in, so it will be interesting to see the sort of fee we get the likes of Maeda for when/if a deal is agreed.
Hopefully, that business can be conducted swiftly with the January transfer window just around the corner.
