What Celtic should do now as Hatate rejects new contract offer

Reo Hatate has rejected the chance to sign a new contract at Celtic, according to a report this morning in Scottish Sun. And if that is indeed the case, we at least know where we stand and can determine at what stage we sell the Japanese midfielder who is under contract until 2026.

There should be absolutely no need to lose Hatate this season, and there is not really any risk of the player downing tools as he will be looking to impress with a view to catching the eye of whatever club ends up buying him.

Celtic extended the contract of Kyogo and Daizen Maeda in the summer and more recently made similar offers to Hatate and Liel Abada. There is no update on whether Abada will sign or reject the new deal that is now on the table but if he does we can place him in the same category as Hatate and act accordingly.

Hatate has yet to establish himself as a first pick in Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side and is starting to get a reputation for being somewhat injury prone. That’s a red flag to many clubs.

Of course Hatate’s agent will know more about any interest in him than the rest of us, but the valuation that Celtic will have will need to be met before a club like Brighton or Tottenham will tempt Celtic if they are looking at moving for the player in the remaining days of this transfer window, or more likely after Christmas.

Hatate fancies another shot at the Champions League with Celtic and you can understand why. He’s not going to be guaranteed that at either of those two clubs and many more that might end up coming in for him.  For now, Celtic should get him fit and challenge him to prove he’s worthy of the move that he aspires to. And we’ll leave chanting his name to others.