Watch: Reo Hatate records an incredible assist during the Asian Cup.

In the closing quarter-hour of their Asian Cup come across towards Iraq, Reo Hatate and his Celtic teammate Daizen Maeda joined the fray.

The duo entered the pitch with Japan trailing by means of two goals. Despite their efforts, Japan was unable to prevent a loss on matchday two.

However, Hatate made a exceptional contribution, turning in an notable cross from a nook kick. This unique transport observed its way to Endo, who deftly headed the ball into the net, scoring a consolation intention and bringing the scoreline to a more decent 2-1.

This suit marked the inaugural participation of each Celtic luminaries in the Asian Cup, as they were relegated to the bench at some stage in the first matchday.

Following his impactful assist, Hatate will undoubtedly be eager to invulnerable a more outstanding role in the team’s method for the upcoming matchday three.

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For Celtic fans, they’ll be hoping each guys come back from the match unscathed and prepared to assist the Hoops with their title tilt in February.

‘Excellent’; Celtic may spend £2 million to sign this player after he ‘superbly’ surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo

It’s in all likelihood protected to say that Hakon Valdimarsson – the £2 million-rated IF Elfsborg goalkeeper linked with a go to Scottish Premiership champions Celtic – is no longer precisely a family identify on the inexperienced facet of Glasgow.

But that ought to be about to change. With Joe Hart’s contract expiring, and neither Scott Bain nor Benjamin Siegrist obvious replacements, Celtic are scouring the market for shot-stoppers.

There is hobby in the aforementioned Hakon Valdimarsson, in accordance to Goteborgs Posten. And, no matter being topped the Goalkeeper of the Year at the 2023 Swedish football awards after an incredible Allsvenskan campaign with Elfsborg, it is the 22-year-old’s performances on the international stage which ought to ease the reservations of these fearing another Gustaf Lagerbielke situation.

Celtic eye Iceland ace Hakon Valdimarsson

Lagerbielke arrived at Celtic from Elfsborg last summer and has failed to pressure his way into Brendan Rodgers’ beginning XI, rumours of an early departure swirling already after simply a few months in Scotland.

Lagerbielke, however, did not arrive with a stand-out overall performance in opposition to Cristiano Ronaldo beneath his belt, that virtuoso show in Iceland’s European Championship qualifier with Portugal in November without a doubt incomes Valdimarsson the benefit of the doubt amongst a sceptical Celtic fanbase burned by preceding switch failiures.

Valdimarsson set his stall out early, frivolously and confidently gathering a Joao Felix shot which fizzed through a crowded penalty location after just three minutes. He had no reply to a extremely good Bruno Fernandes daisy-cutter but Valdimarsson did paw away a Ruben Dias volley from close range.

Then, it used to be Ronaldo’s flip to be denied. The £2 million-rated, Celtic-linked shot-stopper ‘superbly’ clutching a effective header from arguably world football’s greatest ever goalscorer.

Goalkeeper bought the better of Cristiano Ronaldo

“Did absolutely nicely from the begin and confirmed a lot of courage,” Icelandic publication DV wrote at full-time, Valdimarsson emerging with his reputation very a great deal unscathed even if he perhaps ought to have done extra to preserve out Ricardo Horta’s second-half winner.

“Other than that, he was excellent.”

If Celtic are to growth below Rodgers – in the Champions League in unique – the man chosen to inherit Joe Hart’s gloves must be succesful of producing virtuoso, backs-against-the-wall performances towards some of the planet’s best forwards.

And Valdimarsson has already demonstrated he can do simply that.

Rumor mill: Celtic rejects £4 million asking price; Ange returns for former Celtic target; plus, Rangers, Hearts, and Hibs latest

Celtic seemed into appointing Pascal Jansen to replace Ange Postecoglou however he now finds himself out of work after being axed by means of AZ Alkmaar.

Celtic suffered the blow they were possibly waiting for over the summer time as Ange Postecoglou left the club.

The Australian was once almost mocked when he grew to become Celtic boss in 2021, transferring from Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.

If human beings had been laughing then, they weren’t laughing via the time Postecoglou had finished at Parkhead, prevailing two league titles.

Postecoglou moved on to Tottenham and while Celtic moved for Brendan Rodgers as his successor, one of their objectives now finds himself out of work…

Pascal Jansen loses AZ Alkmaar job after Celtic interest

Reports over the summer time indicated that Celtic had been interested in touchdown AZ Alkmaar boss Pascal Jansen.

Rodgers ended up landing the job however Jansen genuinely appeared like an attractive candidate.

The London-born train secured a fourth-place finish in the Eredivisie remaining season and guided AZ into the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, losing out to eventual winners West Ham United.

Jansen appeared to be a clearly promising coach but matters have long gone incorrect for him this season.

Jansen dropped just four factors in the first 10 video games of the season, enjoying a high-quality begin to the campaign.

Form due to the fact that then has been complex although with AZ losing 4 in seven, taking seven factors from a viable 21.

A torrid Europa Conference League marketing campaign didn’t help both as AZ lost four in six and crashed out of the group stage.

AZ have now pulled the trigger, announcing on Wednesday that they have sacked Jansen and his time in charge is over.

Jansen leaves after 94 wins in 162 games, boasting an extraordinary 58% win rate.

We will genuinely see Jansen in every other job quickly enough; an awful lot of his AZ reign used to be very dazzling and he will have attracted interest from elsewhere.

Maybe Celtic will hold tabs on him moving forward, but they will presently experience that going returned to Rodgers was the right decision.

Amidst speculation about Celtics, Sydney van Hooijdonk delivers an intriguing transfer message.

Celtic’s name has been mentioned in relation to the Bologna striker since the summer and is still being discussed throughout the January transfer window.

Many Bhoys fans would be filled with nostalgia if they saw another van Hooijdonk at Parkhead; he is the son of legendary Pierre.

According to The Daily Record, the 23-year-old has made some intriguing remarks and discussed his future.

Sydney van Hooijdonk said, “I know that there has been a lot of talk about it,” which likely implies that a January transfer is a possibility even though he hasn’t ruled anything out.

Playing as a striker, he would check the box for Brendan Rodgers to add another number nine, as there has been much discussion about it.

The 23-year-old has only started four games overall across all competitions, but he did start for Bologna during their most recent 2-1 loss to Cagliari.

Van Hooijdonk Sydney to Celtic
“My prospects? I’m not sure; this match is what matters most to me right now, but I know there has been a lot of discussion about it,” van Hooijdonk remarked.

will likely be like this in the upcoming weeks as well, but I’m putting an end to my self-focus because I have this opportunity. I want to win and score now. We’ll then watch how football plays out; you know, in football, things can change very rapidly

Celtic’s striker talk

The unexpected aspect of this is that he is a winger, so one must wonder if there is a need for more players in that position given how crowded it already is.

For the number nine, the same might be stated. Although Kyogo Furuhashi isn’t putting up huge stats, he is stepping up in pivotal occasions, as he demonstrated against the Rangers.

Will there be a van Hooijdonk to replace him? No. However, there will be disagreements regarding Hyeongyu Oh, who is now serving abroad.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that the 22-year-old South Korean star is just playing as a backup, so patience and understanding are required in that regard.