Champions League winner Paul Lambert has urged Celtic stars Reo Hatate and Nicolas Kuhn to tread carefully when considering moves away from Parkhead.
Kuhn has been strongly linked with a £15million switch to Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, while Serie A newcomers Como have also shown interest. No talks have reached an advanced stage yet, despite some reports emerging just over a week ago suggesting that this was the case.
Hatate, meanwhile, hasn’t featured in much transfer chatter this summer, largely due to injury, but the Japanese midfielder has previously spoken about his ambitions to play in one of Europe’s top-five leagues.
Lambert, however, has questioned whether either player is truly ready for such a leap.
Speaking to Record Sport, the former Celtic captain praised Kuhn’s early impact in the Hoops but pointed to inconsistency.
The German winger lit up the Champions League league stage with goals and assists but saw his form dip after Christmas. With suitors circling, Lambert suggests the 25-year-old should think twice before leaving too soon.
“As a Celtic player, you have to be consistent. You need to hit eight out of 10s every week, more or less.
“And when you don’t do it, then you’ll probably hear it from the supporters.
“He was brilliant in the first half of the season, but the season doesn’t last half a year. It’s a year, so you’ve got to perform consistently.
“You can’t turn around and say, ‘I’m only going to play half a year.’ If that were the case, then everybody would still be playing.
“Nobody can dispute that he was really good in the first half of the season – but do it for the full year.”
As for Hatate, Lambert believes the midfielder has fallen short of his earlier standards.
“I don’t know about him, I’m not sure he’s hitting the heights of what he should be hitting.
“Everyone can say they want to play in a top-five league, but you’ve got to keep proving it.
“I think he’s tailed off a bit with consistency in playing for a club like Celtic. I think he needs to get that back into his game.
“I think he’s a decent enough player – but nobody’s bigger than the club, that’s always the case. The club will always go on.
“If Brendan thinks it’s the right decision to move him on or keep him, Brendan will know because he’s a top manager.
“My concern for him is that he has to get back to the form that he showed when he first came in.”
Lambert underlined that no player is bigger than the club and backed Brendan Rodgers to make the right call regarding their futures.
