New Celtic signing Yosuke Ideguchi has been praised by one of his former managers from his last attempt to make a name for himself in Europe. Ideguchi spent a season in Germany on loan from Leeds United three years ago after the English club decided it would be beneficial for him to gain experience on the continent.
Damir Buric was manager of Greuther Furth at the time and recalls Ideguchi unfortunately picked up a serious injury early into his spell at the Bundesliga 2 side, which hampered what had looked to be a promising start for the former J-League rookie of the year. Buric however was hugely impressed by the Japanese players strength of character, explaining he showed great character and positivity to return to fitness sooner than expected.
Speaking to Daily Record, the Croatian manager said: “In regards to Yosuke, I can only speak the best. He is an outstanding person with great character.
“First of all I was very impressed with the way he came back from that serious injury. What impressed me most was the way he was working during his time out with the injury. It was just unbelievable, almost like soldier. He showed such a great attitude and positive approach.
“He was extremely disciplined, took in every additional training session of physical rehabilitation and invested all of his time in getting back as soon as he possibly could.”
Interestingly, Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa also spoke positively about the midfielders professionalism back at a time when he was struggling to break into his first team.
“How Kyogo is playing is already big news in Japan. I respect him and I’m really looking forward to playing with him, along with my other team-mates.”
Yosuke Ideguchi pic.twitter.com/StvHDkN9zI— セルティックの引用 (@CelticQuote) January 2, 2022
Bielsa said at the time: “If he stays with us, I will do everything I can to help him as I did until now. He’s a very valuable professional. He dignifies the Japanese people and I have a deep admiration for Japan. He’s a player who during the six weeks of pre-season worked very well and very hard. I saw a very positive evolution.”
Although Ideguchi’s first foray into European football may been seen as a failure in many people’s eyes it’s good to see that it definitely wasn’t due to a bad attitude or lack of work ethic. I imagine that it was mainly due to the player being so young at the time and it being a big culture shock to him trying to become accustomed to his new surroundings and the style of football being played.
He also never got to settle at one club for too long, spending time in England with Leeds, Spain with Cultural Leonesa and Germany with Greuther Furth. Having 3 fellow Japanese players alongside him at Celtic Park and a manager who fully believes in him, as well as being older and having more experience of what will be required of him this time around, will surely mean we see the best of the skillful midfielder.
Going on to discuss what he did get to see of Ideguchi on the pitch during his injury hampered time in Germany, Damir Buric states he saw enough of the player to know that he has plenty of attributes that make him an important part of any team.
🚨Yosuke Ideguchi
Gamba Osaka ➡️ Celtic FC
760.000 €#GAMBAOSAKA #Celtic #Ideguchi #Transfers #TransferNews pic.twitter.com/tIjWtMqXw3
— Football átigazolások (@F_atigazolasok) January 3, 2022
Describing the Japanese midfielders style of play, Buric said: “It’s difficult to say whether he is more about goals or assists from the short time he had with us. But he is a smart player, who certainly knows how to score goals.
“He recognises free spaces and when he comes from his midfield position it is very difficult for opponents to control him. Yosuke is very responsible and disciplined when it comes to sticking to his tactical tasks during the game.
“He plays very simple, which is in fact very difficult, but due to his good technique he manages to always take the right decisions. All in all he is a very important team player and I was happy to have the chance to work with him.”
Sounds like the type of attributes Celtic have been crying out for in midfield and seem very similar to what Nir Bitton has been offering us this season. Personally I think Ange has signed Ideguchi as an upgrade not on the Israeli international but on two of Celtic’s other midfielders who play a similar type role, James McCarthy and Ismaila Soro. It will be interesting to see who makes the match day line up when all midfielders are fully fit and vying for positions within the squad.
Conall McGinty
