Opinion: Celtic may not see best of trio until next season

How quickly new signings settle into a football team is always worth discussing. That is certainly true with the transfer business that Celtic have done so far in the January transfer window.

The Hoops have signed three Japanese players – Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi. The transfers have to be considered a bit of a gamble, but you can see why Celtic have signed the players, due to the success of Kyogo and Ange Postecoglou’s familiarity with the trio.

What is interesting about the signings is that one of the trio, Ideguchi, has had experience of British football, having signed for Leeds in 2018. He might not have made the breakthrough at Elland Road, but that could help the player settle in at Celtic quickly.

However, you might not see the best of the players until next season at Celtic. Some might not agree with that, due to how well that Kyogo has performed for the Bhoys this summer.

The difference is that Kyogo signed for Celtic before the start of the season, which can make a big difference when it comes to a signing. Of course, perhaps as the Celtic boss will be familiar with the trio, that could be significant as the Hoops manager will know just what the players can do.

There is no need for concern if the trio don’t hit the ground running at Celtic. It can take time for players to perform well, particularly when you join a club in January. 

There seems little doubt that the trio will feature for the Hoops first-team in the second half of the season, but there is no guarantee that any of the players establish themselves in the side by the end of the season.

Of the trio, perhaps Maeda has the best chance of establishing himself in the Hoops side in the second half of the season.

The reason for that is that Maeda is a striker, and the Hoops have had a lot of injury issues in that area of the side this season. That could allow Maeda to get a run of games in the side.

It will be exciting for Celtic fans to see how the trio perform for the rest of this season and beyond. Even if one of the players performs as well for the Hoops as Kyogo does, then the transfers will have been a success.

It could take time for the players to be at their best for the Hoops, but that should not be a concern. These things happen regularly in football.