Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic have made an offer for Yosuke Ideguchi and J-League outfit Gamba Osaka are expected to let the midfielder hold talks with the Scottish Premiership giants, as reported by The Athletic.
If any moment summed up Ideguchi’s previous spell on European soil, it occurred on September 30 2018.
Just two weeks earlier, he had scored on his Bundesliga 2 debut on loan at Greuther Furth from Leeds United. But, just three games later, he would suffer a serious ligament injury that would keep him out of action for six long months.
One step forward, followed by a massive leap in the other direction.
Should Ideguchi seal a mid-season switch to Celtic, alongside fellow Japanese stars Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate, it is an opportunity he will surely grasp with typical tenacity.
Will Yosuke Ideguchi be Celtic’s first January signing?
It would be unfair to suggest that Ideguchi failed during his previous spell in the West. His short-lived spell at Leeds United was ruined by injury and uncertainty, with Marcelo Bielsa overlooking a player who joined the club during Thomas Christiansen’s days as head coach.
At 25, Ideguchi is a more mature and well-rounded footballer these days, however.
The Athletic claim that Celtic have submitted an offer and Gamba Osaka, one of the biggest clubs in Japanese football, are unlikely to stand in his way.
Yahoo Japan, meanwhile, say that Celtic’s bid stands in the region of £850,000. An agreement has been reached between the Hoops and Gamba Osaka, though there are still visa issues that must be overcome.
It is understood that, should all go as planned, Ideguchi will travel to UK to undergo a medical before the turn of the year.
An aggressive, all-action box-to-box midfielder, Ideguchi contributed 10 goals and nine assists in 97 J-League games.
It is expected that he will provide Postecoglou with some much-needed depth in central midfield, a position where Celtic have been left somewhat short following the late-summer departures of Ryan Christie and Olivier Ntcham.
Maeda, the J-League’s 23-goal top scorer, is also set to join in a £1.3 million loan-to-buy deal. Maeda joined another Celtic target, the skilful Reo Hatate, in the Japanese top-flight’s Team of the Season earlier this week.
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