Report offers hope over player contract talks at Celtic – Exclusive

This morning, 67 Hail Hail discussed that Reo Hatate had turned down the opportunity to sign a new contract at Celtic.

The report from The Sun stated that Celtic had opened up talks with the Japanese midfielder’s representatives but that those talks to extend Hatate’s stay in Glasgow failed as improved terms were turned down by the 25-year-old.

However, all may not be lost. A recent report by The Daily Mail has claimed that whilst the initial contract offer was rejected, Hatate has not shut the door completely on the possibility of committing to the club.

The report says, “Reo Hatate has asked Celtic to place talks over a new contract on hold until the end of the transfer window. “

But even better, the report goes further and says that people close to the Celtic player say that he ‘could’ decide to extend his stay in Paradise.

Now, there are two ways you can look at this. The first is if this report is accurate and Hatate is waiting to the end of the transfer window, he could be waiting to see if other options arise amid interest from the English Premier League last season.

The second option and it is the one I hope it is, is that Hatate just wants time to consider the offer from Celtic. One major advantage is that, according to the report, money isn’t the main motivator here.

Hatate has been open and honest in the past and admitted that he would like to test himself at a higher level. The Champions League gives the Japanese a small window to do that at Celtic, but the SPFL doesn’t.

That is something we Celtic fans have had to put up with and accept, for years now. At just 25 years old, Hatate is still young enough to develop further at Celtic and put himself in the shop window.

The supporters will be hoping that he does exactly that. Because if he makes this upcoming Champions League campaign a success, he will have no shortage of offers sometime in the near future.

Celtic sent transfer update over ‘target’ Brendan Rodgers thinks is ‘fantastic’

Celtic have been sent an update on reported summer target Kieran Tierney.

Tierney’s future remains in air as we approach the end of the summer transfer window, with the Arsenal star having fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium. The Scotsman fell out of favour after the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko, and the emergence of Jakub Kiwior hasn’t helped his case, with Ben White and Thomas Partey also featuring in the full-back roles.

Tierney has expressed a willingness to play a supplamentary role for the second successive season, but a move looks more likely.

Celtic have been tipped to bring Tierney back to Parkhead, with Brendan Rodgers a self-confessed fan. Rodgers, who has previously dubbed the full-back ‘fantastic’, said earlier this summer: “There’s been lots of players linked with here with me coming back.

“All I know is Kieran is like myself, we loved our time here, Rodgers said when asked about the transfer links. When I spoke to him down the road in the Premier League, every time we met up all we talked about was Celtic. He’s a Celtic man but he’s at a fantastic club in Arsenal.”

But as Tierney continues his search for a new home, it seems nothing is close, with Arsenal insider Charles Watts telling TeamTalk: “We’re not seeing him while these talks are going on. I don’t think they’ve progressed anywhere.

“Newcastle have signed Lewis Hall now so that’s one potential exit route closed for Tierney which was a surprise. I thought he’d go to Newcastle. There’s lots of doors that seem to be closing for Tierney. I don’t know what Newcastle’s scouting department has seen and recommended.

“But clearly they felt that Hall was a better long-term investment than Kieran Tierney. Tierney’s a fantastic left-back, who would have suited Newcastle really well. But obviously the scouting department felt differently. Hall looks like a decent player in the few games that I’ve seen him.

“But if you’ve got a choice between Kieran Tierney and Lewis Hall for around the same sort of transfer fee, for me, there’s only one player I’m signing there and it’s not Hall.”

La Liga club Real Sociedad, who are in the Champions League this season, are said to be interested in a move.

“(Real) Sociedad are still in the mix,” added Watts. “They’re still hoping to get him and it just depends if they can come up with financial terms. You wonder if that’s going to be possible or not.

“They do have Champions League football this season, which might help in terms of money, but I think Arsenal started this summer wanting big money for Tierney and expected big money for him.”