Former Celtic star Mark Wilson has detailed the process of Ange Postecoglou persuading the board to sign Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate.

The Japanese stars were all announced as Hoops signings yesterday in a statement of title intent.

Wilson reckons Ange Postecoglou will have “gone to the board” to implore them to trust his judgement in the Japanese transfer market.

And with Kyogo Furuhashi proving a bargain at £4.6m, the men in suits were clearly keen to back their man, splashing out to sign the trio of Japansese stars.

And Wilson points out that shows the faith Postecoglou has from Celtic power brokers.

He said: “I think Postecoglou definitely has the faith and trust of the Celtic fans for the latest Japanese players coming in.

“The manager clearly knows the Japanese market very well from his time in charge of Yokohama Marinos and Kyogo Furuhashi has been phenomenal.

“It’s fantastic that Celtic have acted with conviction before the transfer window has even opened.

“To get three deals done so quickly, making sure they settle into the squad before a return to action, is brilliant.

“The players will get a lift from more new faces coming in — and it can spark Celtic to make a real title push in the second half of the season.

“Postecoglou has the fans on his side with transfers. He’s brought in a few from left field and they’ve worked.

“But even if the three new Japanese lads don’t work out, I still feel he would retain the confidence of the fans for summer moves.

“The Japanese scene has some extremely talented players. I was lucky enough at Celtic to work with Shunsuke Nakamura and Koki Mizuno.

“It didn’t work out for Koki, but you could still see how technically gifted he was.

“Postecoglou will have been able to go to the board and assure them how well he knows Japan’s top flight.

“Kyogo’s success says it all. Look how the players and fans have reacted to him.

“It would’ve been an easy sell from Postecoglou to bring more in from that market.”