Reo Hatate could be bargaining chip in Celtic’s pursuit of Mika Baur

As Celtic get set to sign their third summer signing in Haissem Hassan, strong interest still remains in Paderborn midfielder Mika Baur…

Terms were agreed with the German under 21 international three weeks ago, but a difference in valuation between the two clubs has stalled any deal going through.

Baur is rated in the £5 million bracket by the newly promoted Bundesliga side, and despite Celtic splashing out £25 million on Camilo Duran, Kasper Hogh, and the incoming Hassiem Hassan, a deal for Baur seems to be complicated for reasons that have never been fully revealed.

Baur is pushing for the move, and sees his future away from the Bundesliga new boys, and even though he only has a year remaining on his current deal, the club remain determined to get the best deal for their star player.

It appears that since the initial bid from Celtic stalled over a few hundred grand, the German side his increased their valuation, perhaps in an attempt to kill Celtic’s approach stone dead.

That could result in the player playing in Germany’s top flight for a season but signing a pre-contract with Celtic or another club in January and Paderborn losing out on a substantial sum.

Coincidentally, Celtic also has a talented midfielder on our books who much like Baur, sees his future elsewhere. That player is of course Reo Hatate, who reportedly asked for a transfer at the end of last season and has made no secret of of his desire to play in one of the top five leagues in Europe.

Hatate is Celtic’s last remaining Japanese star from the Ange Postecolgou era and very much like Kyogo and Daizen Maeda, wants to experience a new challenge which would certainly be something that Paderborn could offer him.

Daizen of course left Celtic in the summer to join newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town and Reo could make a similar move to join the newcomers to the Bundesliga, if this idea was something that the German side would consider.

You can only ask the question, and that would be, could a swap deal be in the interests of both the players and clubs given the situations at both clubs. Both have a talented midfielder who wants to leave. Mika Baur wants to join Celtic, Hatate wants to play in a top five league.

This is of course only a suggestion, but it’s an idea worth discussing all the same.

Reo Hatate is on record as saying that he wants to sample playing in a top European league at some stage in his career, and the Bundesliga is one of the very best on the continent.

At 28 years of age, and his much publicised comments about wanting to leave the club, we would most likely be looking at a fee of around £5 million for the Japanese playmaker.

Thats what Paderborn are demanding for Baur, so it makes perfect sense to test the Germans resolve by offering them a swap deal with Reo being the sweetener in the deal instead of a cash sum.

That effectively is what Celtic did with French side Rennes who swapped Jota for Kyogo eighteen months ago.

Reo Hatate wants to be elsewhere while Mika Baur wants to come to Glasgow. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? If all parties can get on board of course. If Celtic has to throw some additional money at it, it would be well worth it to get the player in the door and to let Reo revitalise his career elsewhere.

He is now a huge talent going to wasted at Celtic and seems to be a player who is not trusted by the manager for whatever reason. Perhaps that foolish red card in Bologna last season affected Martin O’Neill’s opinion?

Whatever the reason Reo himself would clearly benefit from a move and this could be something that Paderborn could see real merit in. Relying on a want-away usually backfires, as we know to our cost.

A fully motivated Reo Hatate would be a huge asset to Paderborn as they look to consolidate their place in the Bundesliga 1. Unlike Baur, Reo Hatate has international caps to his name and has proved himself at Champions League level at Celtic. He would be a perfect replacement for Mika Baur.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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