With Brendan Rodgers looking to trim the Celtic squad this January, it seems that he won’t need to try too hard to get one player off his books.
Yosuke Ideguchi has been enjoying a season-long loan spell in the J League with Avispa Fukuoka. The 27-year-old has been in sparkling form for the club and helped them create history by winning the J League Cup.
Now that his loan deal is coming to an end, a report from Japan-based media outlet, Nishi Nippon, has said that Fukuoka have ‘opened negotiations’ with Celtic to take Ideguchi on a permanent basis.
The report claims that Ideguchi is ‘considered by the club to be an indispensable asset’ by Fukuoka and a player that they believe can take them to the next level.
Ideguchi has been an ever-present in the Avispa squad this season.
Yosuke Ideguchi shared why he had to leave Celtic
It is fair to say that the Japanese midfielder didn’t have the best of times at the club. Injured in his debut against Alloa in the Scottish Cup in 2021, Ideguchi had to recover on the sidelines and watch as players like Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate became instant stars at Celtic.
Even when he recovered from his injury, Ideguchi had trouble dislodging Hatate and, let’s face it, he was never going to get in the Celtic team ahead of Callum McGregor.
So he went out on loan to Avispa Fukuoka and said of the move, “The main reason why I came back to Japan this year was because I saw the Qatar World Cup and for the first time I really wanted to play in the World Cup in four years.
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“In order to do that, I had to play. I thought Japan they were playing really good football, and it was frustrating to see the younger players playing so lively. Ritsu (G Osaka’s junior, Doyasu) is the same, and so is [Kauro] Mitoma. I was like, what am I doing here?
“It was surprising to me that I thought that (after being away from the national team for so long). I felt that I would not be able to play at Celtic but Avispa approached me and I came without hesitation.”
Avispa Fukuoka’s manager’s verdict on Celtic’s Yosuke Ideguchi
Fukuoka’s manager, Shigetoshi Hasebe, is a huge fan of the midfielder. Speaking earlier in the season, he said he has a ‘high evaluation’ of Ideguchi.
Hasebe also said, “As a team, I think it’s partly because of him that we’re on a winning streak.
“I want him to be the focal point of the defence and attack. He’s not the type of player who says things out loud, but he’s very good at making smart plays without hesitation. So I want him to provide that kind of play to the team as much as possible.” [translated by Deep L]
With Ideguchi set to return to Lennoxtown this month, he will be hoping that a deal can be brokered between the two clubs before he boards a plane back to Glasgow.
In other news, BBC pundit noticed what half of Celtic’s players did after James Forrest scored yesterday