Report claims that Celtic are braced for Saudi interest in second player

Michael Gannon of the Daily Record has claimed that Celtic are braced for Saudi interest in Reo Hatate.

Over the last few days there has been intense speculation from journalists such as Fabrizio Romanov that a deal is being discussed to take Jota to Al Ittihad.

With personal terms of £10m a year free of tax being quoted there appears to be very little that a club can do once their player has heard of those sort of terms.

Moving on from the Jota speculation, in the Daily Record Gannon reports:

The Hoops are also braced for interest from the Middle East in midfielder Reo Hatate. The playmaker’s representatives let intermediates in the region know the Japan star was not interested in heading to the Gulf State earlier in the summer.

Hatate is believed to be focused on Celtic with a view to making his name in Europe. But Saudi sides – including Al-Ittihad – remain interest and are preparing to offer huge financial packages. Celtic won’t let go of another crown jewel unless it’s a blockbuster bid, with Jota already on his way and midfielder Aaron Mooy deciding to hang up his boots.

It is hard to define what a ‘blockbuster bid’ would be but walking in on a squad without Jota, Aaron Mooy and Hatate would be a major challenge for Brendan Rodgers and add some urgency to transfer business.

After two frantic transfer windows Ange Postecoglou had his squad under control with circumstances allowing him to bring in Alistair Johnston and Oh Hyeon-gyu before the transfers of Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis.

With Celtic’s non-internationalists starting pre-season training today all eyes will be on whether or not Jota clocks in at Lennoxtown.