JAPANESE midfielder Reo Hatate has expressed his commitment to making Celtic a more ruthless team.

Hatate, who joined Celtic in January 2022, is constantly aiming to improve the team’s performance, no matter the score.

The player is currently on international duty, and played the full match against El Salvador this week, in what was his second appearance for his country. He played very well, and will certainly have his name in the manager’s mind for the game against Peru and upcoming squads.

He said: [The Sun]

“When we score, I talk to my team-mates about where we can improve. I ask them to improve small details which I would like to see done better.

“I want to be ruthless and try to be more aggressive to get one or two more after we score. I always talk about our next goal.

“I am always happy to see my team-mates score, but I want a goal for myself so I am not celebrating too much.”

Despite being thrilled when his teammates score, Hatate admits he doesn’t celebrate much as he is always focused on scoring a goal himself.

He also mentioned the language barrier he faces, as his teammates don’t understand Japanese. However, he is working hard on improving his English to communicate effectively.

He’s been working hard and listening to podcasts in his car as he tries to get a better grasp of the language.

Fellow Japanese star, Kyogo, has grown more confident in the English language over the past few months, and has started doing some media appearances without heavily relying on his translator.

“The players don’t understand me if I speak Japanese so I am working hard on my English.

“I try to tell my message simply with the words I have learned so far. But you don’t have much time during the game.

“So I try to be brief and informative at the same time.

“Even when I was in Japan I would express my opinion. But coming here, you can’t be a yes man who takes their opinion for granted.

“If you think something is wrong then you say it is wrong and those communications make the team better.”