Looking ahead to Celtic’s long-term future, Reo Hatate reveals career goals he has failed to achieve

Reo Hatate: Celtic's Old Firm hero convinced the best is yet to come after dream start in Scottish Premiership | Football News | Sky Sports

The striker has been locked in negotiations with the Scottish champions for a new deal.

As contract negotiations with Celtic continue, Reo Hatate has once again declared his ambition to play in the highest level of football. The Japanese playmaker has long been open about his desire to play at the top level and has previously stated that he would like to move to the Premier League. Celtic are highly aware of Hatate’s value to the club, and manager Brendan Rodgers is hoping to persuade him to sign a new contract beyond the end of the 2026 season.

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It is understood that talks between the club and Hatate are ongoing, and the Scottish champions are confident that he will follow in the footsteps of Liel Abada and sign a new long-term contract. Hatate, 26, has made it clear that he does not want to leave the club with any regrets and has revealed that he has not yet achieved any personal goals. He added that he would be open to taking on a new challenge if a large-money offer was made.

In a long-form interview with Japanese soccer publication Soccer King about his future plans, Hatate said, “There are no exact details, but basically I want to make it to the top. I believe I want to keep going higher and higher. If I get the chance, I’d love to take on that challenge.” He added, “I originally had a goal in mind for myself. I set short and medium goals for myself, and I think I’m slowly working towards those goals. But there are still things I haven’t done yet.

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I want to keep setting clear goals for myself and keep going without hesitation. In short, I just want to end up with no regrets, that’s all. I don’t know how many years I’ll be doing this, but I want to end up without any regrets. At the moment, I’m not sure how long I’ll keep playing. I don’t want to play for as long as I can, but right now I’m happy with the way I’m playing. I hope I can play until I’m old enough to be a professional

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I believe my strength lies in my ability to create a wide range of games, so I plan to increase my average value. I also plan to add an element of uniqueness to it. I believe there are still some areas where I could improve, so I will work on those areas as I progress.