Celtic bid for Yosuke Ideguchi four years after Leeds United exit
By George Overhill
Celtic have reportedly tabled an offer to sign former Leeds United midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi four years after his nightmare move to Elland Road, according to The Athletic.
The Gamba Osaka man would never make a competitive appearance for Leeds during an 18-month spell which included two unsuccessful loan moves and a ruptured ACL.
He was unable to impress manager Marcelo Bielsa who arrived during his time in Yorkshire and effectively ended his prospects of making the move successful when he bombed him out of the squad.
“In pre-season he worked very well and very hard, but I’m going to be sincere. He’s not going to be a second option in any position in our team,” said Bielsa at the time (via The Athletic).
“It would not be fair to say I want to keep, because I couldn’t offer him the (game) time he deserves.”
Second chance in the UK
Ideguchi’s previous European move will not be getting Celtic fans very excited but there is reason to believe this time has more chance of success.
Manager Ange Postecoglou moved to Celtic after a three-year period managing in Japan and is expected to add Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate to the squad after making Kyogo Furuhashi his statement signing before the season.
That should give Japan’s Ideguchi far more of a familiar environment than the one he had at Leeds, or on loan at Cultural Leonesa in Spain and at Germany’s Greuther Furth.
He also appears to have developed as a player since.
“He scored the 2020 goal of the season with a running volley and had a great 2020 as Gamba came second in J1 and made the Asian Champions League,” said JSoccer Magazine’s Alan Gibson to The Athletic.
Perhaps Ideguchi is set up to become the success in Europe that Leeds hoped back in 2018.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay reports another Leeds player suffering a long-term injury issue.