Journalist Dan Orlowitz has dropped a worrying claim on Celtic's reported January transfer target Yosuke Ideguchi.

What's been said?

In comments cited by the Daily Record, the Japan Times journalist revealed that he is unsure exactly why Celtic are reported to hold an interest in the Gamba Osaka central midfielder, suggesting that the 25-year-old does not appear to be up to the standard required at Parkhead.

When asked how the Japan international could fit into Ange Postecoglou's side, Orlowitz said: "I don't know, Ange clearly sees something in him. Maybe he saw the amazing goal Ideguchi scored against Australia in the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

"But is he a player that can break into the Celtic first-team right now? I don't know. Is he a player who can even qualify for a work permit in Scotland? That's a very open question right now. We don't know if he has the caps or would be able to get an exception."

Huge mistake

Considering his overall level of performance in Japan this season, Orlowitz's suggestion that Ideguchi may not be a player with the ability to break into Celtic's first-team squad would appear to be a fair one.

Indeed, over his 29 J League appearances for Gamba Osaka this term, the £720k-rated man failed to score a single goal or register an assist, taking only one shot and making just 0.5 key passes per fixture.

The 25-year-old also recorded a disappointing match average of 29.1 passes and was dribbled past by an opponent 0.9 times, won possession 0.2 times and won only 2.7 duels per game.

These returns saw the midfielder earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.76, ranking him as his club's 13th-best performer in the Japanese top flight.

As such, exactly what it is that Postecoglou sees in the former Leeds United loanee is rather unclear, leading us to believe that his signing would be something of a mistake on the part of the 56-year-old.

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