Prior to the opening of the January transfer window in 2022, Celtic had announced the signings of three new players from Japan’s top flight, the J-League.
Following on from the success of Kyogo Furuhashi, signed from J-League club Vissel Kobe, as well as the clear knowledge that Ange Postecoglou had of the Asian market and his eye for a player, there was plenty of excitement from supporters when the club unveiled the new talents.
Daizen Maeda of Yokohama F. Marinos, Reo Hatate of Kawasaki Frontale, and Yosuke Ideguchi of Gamba Osaka.
Ideguchi’s Celtic career, however, failed to ignite. His bedding-in process was made all the more difficult by the amount of injuries that were plaguing the first few months of his time in Glasgow, failing to be fit enough to ever string a consistent few appearances together.
When the post mortem is compiled on Ideguchi’s Celtic career, it will show six first-team appearances, one start against Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Cup, a total of 134 minutes played, and all for an investment of £850,000.
Why didn’t things work out?
The aforementioned injuries that plagued his start at Parkhead was an all-too-familiar tale for Ideguchi, as his transfer to Scotland wasn’t his first attempt to try and break through in Europe.
After impressing as a young player when breaking through for the first time at Gamba Osaka, he made the transfer to Leeds United in January 2018 at just 21-years-old.
The move didn’t work out, though, as Ideguchi failed to show enough quality to warrant a starting role under Marcelo Bielsa. The midfielder was moved out on loan in an effort to get him game-time, but he picked up a long-term injury whilst at Greuther Furth in Germany.
He eventually returned to Gamba Osaka where he did enough to earn that move to Celtic, but the same problems with injuries continued to inpinge on the player’s progress.
So when Ideguchi was loaned back to Japan with Avispa Fukuoka, fans saw that as effectively the final nail in the coffin of his Celtic career. Ideguchi hasn’t given up hope of a reprieve yet, however, and has been doing everything in his power to get himself back into the equation when he returns to Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers’ squad is flooded with talent in the midfield, and Ideguchi understands how difficult it will be to get his second chance.
When speaking to the media in Japan, he said “I don’t know about the future. I hope I have put in enough effort to get a second chance. I don’t know whether I have done so or not.”
It remains to be seen if Rodgers will be willing to afford a clean slate to the Japanese midfielder, but with Celtic already stacked with talent in the midfield, it would have to take a multitude of injuries in that position for Ideguchi to get a chance.
It seems like the most likely option for him will be a permanent transfer back to his homeland in January, which may be a smart move seeing as it seems that he plays his best football in the J-League, with two separate European endeavours failing to produce any tangible results.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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