Postecoglou has returned to a market he knows well to take Hatate, Maeda and Ideguchi for a total of about £3.5m
‘It is good for us that the owner is Thai,” said Teerasil Dangda not long after he arrived in
England in 2007, one of three players from the Land of Smiles to sign for
Manchester City. Sven-Göran Eriksson was also grinning, albeit with some bemusement, as he lined up alongside the striker, Suree Sukha and Kiatprawut Saiwaeo, all holding up blue shirts that they would never wear on the pitch. If it was good for Teerasil, now a legend of Thai
Football, who said he learned a lot in his short time out west, it could have been better. Instead of being brought to Europe by his country’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he could have been signed by Ange Postecoglou.
Celtic’s manager has brought another Asian trio to a
British club, and Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi, all Japanese, should have more impact at Celtic than their Thai predecessors did at City. The
Australian, who led Yokohama F. Marinos to the 2019 J League title, knows exactly how good these players are.