Reo Hatate is someone who has been heavily linked with a move to Celtic in recent weeks. The Hoops are expected to strengthen their squad significantly when the January transfer window opens and the versatile Kawasaki Frontale star is someone who appears to be on their radar. The Japanese star played a big part in the club’s back-to-back J1-League winning campaigns but could now be looking for a move to Europe.

Hatate could be a solid signing for Celtic. As we all know, the Hoops do not have a lot of squad depth at this point of time.

On the other hand, Hatate is capable of playing in several positions. He can play on both wings as well as a left-back, although he is naturally a midfielder. Thus, it is not hard to see why he could be a solid addition to the current Celtic squad.

And as reported by The Scottish Sun, the club are close to a £1 million-plus deal for Hatate.

It might take Celtic surprising transfer fee to sign Hatate

Hatate’s current deal with Yokohama F. Marinos is believed to run out at the end of January. Thus, most would have expected him to arrive at Celtic on a free transfer.

But there have been suggestions that Celtic are looking to get him out of the last few weeks of his contract so that he can join the Hoops’ training camp during the winter break. On the other hand, the Japanese football season is set to come to an end before Christmas.

Thus, considering all of this, even a £1 million transfer fee sounds steep when Hatate could leave as a free agent just a few weeks later. But then, maybe Celtic do not want to compete with other teams to sign him on a free transfer when his current deal runs out.