The Celtic exit door lies open for Reo Hatate – but very few are lining up to entice him through it…there’s a reason for that

Reo Hatate once said that his stated ambition was to eventually play in a league like the EPL.

On his day, and in his pomp, no midfielder in Scotland was a match for him.

His ability to place a pinpoint, defence splitting pass, was second to none.

Everybody remembers the ball he played through for Adam Idah to force the ball into the Young Boys net, and guarantee knock out football in the Champions League back in January of 2025.

In addition to that, who could forget his performance in the 3-0 victory over the Ibrox side in February of 2022?

He was a player who showed so much promise.

Yet, like his Japanese compatriot Daizen Maeda, he is something of an enigma.

Not the kind of enigma Maeda was, but something totally different.

Some days, Hatate didn’t show up for business at all.

He had this uncanny ability to go from looking like a world class midfielder to resembling a footballer who would struggle in a Sunday league game.

There are a few performances with Celtic that come to mind, but none more so than the Hogmanay derby at Ibrox in 2025.

The Ibrox side beat us 3-0 that day, and deservedly so.

During that game, Hatate played like he didn’t even want to be there.

His first touch was awful.

He was bullied off the ball at every opportunity.

And almost every pass he played was either short, or went straight to an opposition player.

His performance in that game was a perfect example of Hatate at his worst in a Celtic shirt.

But even after performances like that, Brendan Rodgers stuck with him because he clearly saw something in him.

He wanted to unlock that on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, even Rodgers was never able to unlock it consistently.

Towards the end of Rodgers tenure at the club, Hatate’s performances continued to nose dive.

It became clearer and clearer he had downed tools at Celtic, and just didn’t want to be at the club any more.

But with that attitude comes a detrimental cost.

If you don’t want to play for the club you’re at, then it’s highly unlikely you’re going to force a move to another club, simply because you aren’t exactly putting yourself in the shop window.

January came and went last season, and there wasn’t even a sniff of interest in Hatate.

His attitude didn’t impress Martin O’Neill either, and as a result, the Japanese midfielder rarely got a start under him in the title run-in.

In the entirety of last season, Reo Hatate only made 19 starts.

Outside that, he made 11 substitute appearances.

That means he didn’t feature in 8 fixtures at all throughout the campaign.

Compare and contrast that to the previous season, where he made 27 starts, and came off the bench 10 times, meaning he only missed one game throughout the league campaign that season.

In addition to that, he made 10 Champions League appearances.

Last season, he made just 6 starts in the Europa League, and 3 appearances off the bench.

If Hatate had aspirations to ply his trade down south, just as Daizen Maeda did, he certainly didn’t make any real effort to put himself in the shop window, did he?

I think it’s fair to say we only got to see the real Reo Hatate during the 2-2 draw at Ibrox last season.

Bringing him on in that match was a game changer.

He dragged us back into that game from 2-0 down.

But outside of that, we never really saw much from him, and Martin O’Neill certainly wasn’t overly impressed by him.

As a result, he is now surplus to requirements at Celtic.

But we’re now almost 2 months into the summer window and only 3 clubs have shown interest in him.

Zenit St. Petersburg had a bid knocked back early this summer.

Nobody knows what the offer was, but Celtic rejected it out of hand, and there was no follow up after that.

Outside of that, the only other clubs interested are West Ham United and Leicester City.

It’s unlikely he’d move to Leicester, as he be playing in England’s third tier if he did under former Ibrox manager, Russell Martin.

Which leaves West Ham as the most likely destination.

Where Hatate would be playing in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the EPL.

Not exactly living the dream.

But I guess it’s a possible pathway to the EPL, as you’d expect the Hammers to be challenging for promotion with their level of resources.

Celtic value Hatate at £3 to £4 million.

So, while the exit door lies open for Hatate, there are very few lining up to entice him through it.

There’s a reason for that.

Daizen Maeda got his move quickly because despite a slump in form last season, he stepped up to the plate when it mattered.

Hatate didn’t.

To be honest, it’s sad to see the way his career is ending at Celtic after such a promising start.

Ultimately, though, that’s down to his attitude.

At Celtic, he had the platform to shine, and at times he really did.

It’s just a shame for him that in his last season that he decided to down tools.

If he had done something similar to Daizen Maeda, he could have ended up with his dream move to the EPL.

Who knows?

Maybe he still could?

Either way, I wish him all the best.

But he should have done so, so much better.

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