da fazobetai： After opening the scoring in the match, Celtic central midfielder Reo Hatate gave his side an uphill task after being sent off against Bologna in the Europa League on Thursday night.

da fezbet： The Japan international was given his marching orders for two yellow cards in fairly quick succession, and the frustrating part is that the second one was entirely avoidable.

As shown in the clip above, Hatate was never beating the player to the ball to start an attack for Celtic, and did not need to make contact with the Bologna player, who was in a perfect screening position.

He gave the referee a decision to make and put his team on the backfoot for the rest of the match, and it is not the first time that his performance has not been good enough this season.

Why Celtic must drop Reo Hatate

Anyone, Celtic supporter or not, who has followed Hatate’s time in Scotland will know that he possesses great quality and can influence games with goals and assists, as evidenced by his 33 goals and 31 assists for the club, per Transfermarkt.

Whilst his goal against Bologna was possibly the easiest one of his Hoops career, he was in the right place at the right time to score his third goal of the Europa League campaign on Thursday night.

However, his work out of possession has not been up to the standard required in the Scottish Premiership or the Europa League this season, and not just because he was sent off against the Italian side last time out.

Hatate (25/26)

Premiership

Europa League

Appearances

19

7

Goals

1

3

Assists

2

1

Tackles + interceptions per game

1.0

1.3

Ground duel success rate

47%

45%

Aerial duel success rate

39%

0%

Duels won per game

2.3

2.0

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Hatate has lost the majority of his defensive duels on the deck and in the air in both competitions this season, whilst rarely winning tackles, interceptions, or duels.

He has also not offered enough at the other end of the pitch in the Premiership to make up for his out-of-possession issues, which is why the club should look to make a new signing to replace him in the starting line-up this month.

The star Celtic should sign to replace Reo Hatate

The January transfer window still has more than a week left to run, and Celtic should take advantage of that to snap up a star from one of their Premiership rivals.

Transfer Focus

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SportsBoom reported earlier this month that the Hoops, Rangers, and Hearts are all looking at Motherwell central midfielder Elliot Watt as a target to bolster their squad in the midst of a title race.

The 25-year-old star’s performances in the Premiership this season make it easy to understand why the three teams in the race for the title would all like to snap him up in the coming weeks, as he has been sensational in the middle of the park.

Analyst Kai Watson went as far as to describe him as the “best midfielder in the league” last month, and it is hard to argue with that when you consider the impact that he has on matches.

Per Sofascore, he ranks first for touches per game (102.9), first for total passes (1,709), and second for passes in the opposition half (695) among central midfielders in the Premiership this season.

On top of his excellent work in possession as a passer, Watt has also scored four goals and provided two assists in 20 appearances in the league, which shows that he can also influence games in the final third with key goal contributions.

25/26 Premiership

Watt

Hatate

Games

20

19

Goals

4

1

Assists

2

2

Tackles per game

2.2

0.8

Interceptions per game

1.3

0.2

Ground duel success rate

56%

47%

Duels won per game

4.9

2.3

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the Scottish star has offered significantly more to his team out of possession than Hatate has for Celtic in the league, winning the majority of his duels.

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These statistics show that he is a strong defender who can be relied upon out of possession in the middle of the park, and that he is not a lightweight in the Premiership. Unfortunately, a lightweight is what Hatate has been for the Hoops this season, both domestically and in Europe.

This shows both why he would be a big upgrade on the Japanese midfielder and why he is one of the best players in his position, if not the best, in the league, because he can offer quality in all phases of play, with defensive work, progressive passing, and goal contributions.

A player with his quality across the pitch could be a huge asset for Celtic, particularly as a player who is already proven in the league, and his arrival would allow Martin O’Neill to drop Hatate from the starting XI.

Kyogo upgrade: 15-goal SPFL star now more likely to join Celtic over Bowie

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ByDan Emery