Reo Hatate is the latest player to be linked with a big money move to the gulf state, with Saudi champions Al-Ittihad said to be interested in the Japanese midfielder. However it’s not going to happen anytime soon with the Celtic midfielder committed to playing his football in Europe for now anyway.

Celtic v St Mirren – Reo Hatate right celebrates scoring the third goal of the game with team-mate Liel Abada during the Scottish Cup fifth round match at Celtic Park, Saturday February 11, 2023. Photo Steve Welsh

Journalist Ahmed Ragab posted this ruling out any move to Saudi Arabia by Reo Hatate with this appearing to come from the Celtic player’s agent: ‘Exclusive – About the rumors of Reo Hatate of transfer to Ittihad Jeddah Saudi, his agent “Reo is still in Europe, No chances to move to Saudi”‘

Exclusive – About the rumors of Reo Hatate of transfer to Ittihad Jeddah Saudi, his agent “Reo is still in Europe, No chances to move to Saudi” ✅💯 https://t.co/RPPtvIVR29

— Ahmed Ragab (@ARagab) June 27, 2023

We know the massive sums of money available in the Saudi league with numerous players form around Europe accepting lucrative offers to take their talents to the gulf state.

If there was truth in these rumours, and as you can see from the above tweet that’s a big IF, would the club be in a position to refuse any lucrative offer? Or will the player himself be able to turn down such riches? It’s only natural both would ponder any proposition. But hopefully those questions have been answered from Hatate’s position at least.

Reo Hatate of Celtic celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the Cinch Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Aberdeen FC at on February 18, 2023 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Money is no object to these Saudi clubs and a hefty offer would be hard for a club like Celtic to turn down. Of course we don’t want to lose our best players, and Reo Hatate is one of our best. He is an excellent talent and a joy to watch, he played a massive part in our treble success last year and is undoubtedly the best midfielder in the country when he’s on form.

Hatate’s a class act. One of the best we’ve had in years. But he is only at the beginning of his European adventure and has Champions League football ahead of him in the new season, plus he has now broken into the Japan national side this month and made an immediate impact.

That means nothing though and if an offer in excess of £20 million comes in, it will be one the club will be very tempted to cash in on. Of course it’s all speculation at the moment and we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully speculation is all it is and we should note that Hatate is a player being quoted as being highly desirable to those with mega-riches at their disposal.

Reo Hatate (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We probably should be much more concerned about losing Reo Hatate to the English Premier League than to Saudi Arabian football at this stage. And Celtic will understand that selling the player next summer will probably achieve an even higher price after he has had a season working under Brendan Rodgers under his belt.

JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy