It has been reported in recent times by Japan based journalist Dan Orlowitz and The Celtic Star’s new contributor Yatao (@yataoda4) on Twitter that there have been rumours swirling over in the Far East about Celtic’s interest in creative midfield player Ryotaro Ito.
Talk has intensified over the last day or two on fans forum Kerrydale Street, and the story has now gathered pace tonight after being picked up by the Daily Record.
Looking at videos of the player, he seems like he would fit into Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side perfectly, and his skill, touch, passing and goal scoring ability has seen him referred to as “Hatate Mk2” by one of the posters on the forum.
Celtic could definitely do with adding some more creativity in the No.8 position, as when Reo Hatate was out injured recently, and Aaron Mooy was also out and then taking his time to get up to match sharpness again, you can see the team really struggled.
Especially going into the Champions League group stages again next season, the more creative players we have, the better.
Ito also looks like someone who will be able to spot the runs of Kyogo, and again, the more players we have in the team that can do that, the better.
Ito is also apparently becoming a bit of a free-kick expert which Celtic could really benefit from, considering we don’t have someone who can consistently score from free-kicks, although guys like Jota and Turnbull are capable on their day.
And checking out his stats, so far this season Ito has scored 6 goals and has 2 assists in 12 J1 League matches, which is some going for a midfield player.
Check out his highlight video and some of the posts below.
