Potential Pierre Hojbjerg replacement resurfaces for Tottenham

Tottenham’s links to Reo Hatate have re-emerged after Brendan Rodgers left the Japan international out of Celtic’s starting eleven in their opening league match. 

90 Minute correspondent Graeme Bailey sparked the embers yesterday, saying he wouldn’t be surprised if Hatate ended up at Tottenham.

While an exciting notion, Tottenham supporters should temper their expectations. There’s no doubting Hatate’s quality—quite the opposite. The 25-year-old played an instrumental part in Ange’s Celtic, helping the Glasgow side to back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles.

Ange brought Hatate to Celtic, and the defensive central midfield didn’t take long to impact first-team proceedings. Arriving from J1 League’s Kawasaki Frontale in December 2021, Hatate almost immediately cracked Celtic’s starting lineup.

He scored four goals and added three assists in a more defensive central midfield role in just 13 league appearances after arriving from Japan. The following season Hatate took full flight, dominating the No. 6 role and chipping in offensively, too, scoring five goals and seven assists in 27 league appearances.

Complications to signing Reo Hatate

However, there is a but to this tale. In fact, there are two buts, one of which, albeit spelled slightly differently, is Kim Kardashian-sized.

Yes, Rodgers opted to start David Turnbull instead of Hatate. But it’s only one match. A single match doesn’t constitute an uprising. It doesn’t mean Hatate will immediately revolt and demand a transfer.

If Rodgers makes a habit of overlooking Hatate, the first but might enlarge, like a fitness addict solely concentrating on their gluteus maximus.

The second but, and this is the bulbous one, is the challenge Tottenham would face in acquiring a visa for the Japan international.

Hatate’s lack of international experience would, at least initially, prevent him from acquiring GBE qualification. While I’m sure there are workarounds, Hatate’s visa quandary might act as a deterrent for Spurs.

Stepping up a level to the Premier League might cause Hatate some initial drama, but Ange has full confidence in him, so I don’t see that being a problematic hurdle.

Hojbjerg is by no means a gonner. That point needs to be clarified. Atletico is waffling on Spurs’ asking price.

"Sound familiar, Bayern?"

They may not be able to meet Spurs’ valuation without selling a couple of players. So there’s also that.

Putting all those obstructions aside, signing Hatate represents an intriguing, even exciting, prospect. And he wouldn’t break the bank, far from it.

Transfermarkt has him pegged at €11 million, a ridiculously low valuation. Hatate would more likely cost at least €20 million.

Even that amount is a drop in the ocean for his potential upside. So let’s keep an open mind about this one, even though it coming to fruition is about as likely as Rodgers smartening up.