Celtic transfer scouting: Centre-back 'pass disguiser' and attacking midfield poacher

There is a plethora of talent as well as valuable experience to be picked up but, for Celtic, it will be hard to convince players to move from the Bundesliga to the Premiership without certain incentives. Champions League football could be one.

Here, we look at three players who could be of realistic interest to Ange Postecoglou and Celtic...

Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)

Nationality: Japanese; Age: 23; Position: Centre-back; Preferred foot: Left; Height: 6ft 1in; TransferMarkt Value: £4.05million

Stuttgart had to rely on a 93rd-minute Wataru Endo goal in the last game of the season to avoid relegation play-offs. They had key players missing out due to injury for long periods of the campaign and failed to get going.

However, there have been a few names who stood out despite that adversity. Hiroki Ito, the Japanese centre-back is one of them. He was on loan from Júbilo Iwata last season but will complete a permanent move this summer. As Celtic learned from the Jack Hendry situation, that in itself is not necessarily a barrier to another move in the same window.

Even if not for this summer - Ito could be a potential target if Stuttgart struggle against relegation again in the coming campaign. The Japanese centre-back has played in a back four and also on the left side of a back three for Pellegrino Matarazzo’s team and impressed.

The 23-year-old is technically solid, especially with the ball at his feet. As we can observe from the data above, Ito loves playing vertical passes often and, even when he chooses to play passes at angles, he tends to progress the ball into the next phase of play wherever possible. He possesses a good range of passing with the ability to choose the right passes over short and long distances. He is particularly good at spraying the ball long.

Over long distances, he doesn’t just go long to find the target man or for knockdowns but has the skill to execute passes of different techniques. As seen in the images above, Ito has a driving, pacy long ball that sets off runners or indeed plays the ball in behind the opposition defence. This helps him progress the ball quicker and up the tempo of attacks. In addition to that, he can also switch play when required.

Most importantly, Ito has shown that he can carry the ball forward when given time and space which helps him find better options in between the lines. He is calm when pressed and often uses his body orientation to disguise passes by forcing the opposition to think he is playing wide before driving a ball through the middle into a receiver.

On the defensive side, Ito is a front-footed defender and the defensive duels attempted shows that style of his. While he is quite assertive and imposing when duelling, he can sometimes get confused by aerial balls. That said, he is comparatively quick for a centre-back and reads the game well to anticipate potential threat while his team is out of possession.

Ito got his first senior international call-up for Japan earlier this year and has played at left-back for them. He is quite versatile in that way. While this is potentially a stretch for Celtic, given the arrival of Cameron Carter-Vickers and others, Ito would prove to be a statement signing and one that could get the heart of their defence established.

Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (Hertha Berlin)

Nationality: Dutch; Age: 22; Position: Attacking midfielder; Preferred foot: Right; TransferMarkt Value: £3.15m

Ekkelenkamp is a product of the Ajax youth system. The Dutchman idolises the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart but is currently far from the levels they reached despite having undoubted potential. He left Ajax for Hertha in search of regular football but his first season in the Bundesliga hasn’t really been one to talk about with Hertha getting involved in the relegation battle, which they escaped following the appointment of Felix Magath and assistant coach Mark Fotheringham.

The Dutchman has mainly featured on the right side of the three in a 4-2-3-1 or on the right flank in midfield in a 4-4-2 for Hertha when given the opportunity. Despite a lack of consistent game-time with Hertha, he was a key starter for the Netherlands under-21s during international breaks.

Ekkelenkamp is more of a goal threat rather than a creative attacking midfielder, managing six goals and an assist in all competitions for club and country (1,557 minutes) last season.

As you can see from the data above that he isn’t a natural assist-type player but more of a threat in the box, trying to get on the end of moves and getting the goals. One of his best attributes is that he makes smart runs into the area to find space and freedom. This is a crucial reason he is able to get shots away from good areas - his npxG per shot is effectively a proxy for a good shot location.

The images above are clear examples of how well he anticipates the next move and gets himself ready to pounce. This ability was one of the key reasons behind his impressive run with Jong Ajax which attracted Hertha and other clubs around Europe to him in the first place.

In addition to his movement, Ekkelenkamp is also good at pressing when his team is out of possession. The Dutchman is not only good at chasing the ball when it is in the opposition's defensive third but also very smart in doing so.

In Hertha’s 4-1 loss against Bayern, he scored their only goal which was down to a Dayot Upamecano mistake. However, the mistake was forced due to good pressing from the Dutch attacking midfielder and his team-mate and ultimately concluded by a brilliant finish. Ekkelenkamp also has good shooting technique, with the ability to drive the ball down the far post from angled areas inside the box while also showing signs of an aware 'poacher' in the box to tap them in.

Despite the slow start at Hertha, Ekkelenkamp is bound to succeed. His is a profile that Celtic would be interested in - he could be a cheap, low-stocks, good-potential buy for Postecoglou.

Robin Hack (Armenia Bielefeld)

Nationality: German; Age: 23; Position: Winger; Preferred foot: Right; TransferMarkt Value: £1.8million

Another player who shined brightly a couple of years before and failed to kick on in the last season was Arminia’s Robin Hack.

Hack joined Bielefeld last summer after impressing at Nürnberg the season before. Armenia ended up being second to bottom in the Bundesliga last season, scoring the fewest goals in the league. Unlike Patrick Wimmer, who impressed and got a move to Wolfsburg, Hack failed to assert himself and struggled to put up necessary output as well.

Yet despite just a single assist in over 1,500 minutes last season, Hack is still someone who should be on Celtic’s radar as a potential backup in the future.

Hack played on the left side of attack in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 last season and despite a lack of creative numbers across the league, Hack was actually still influential for Arminia, coming second to Wimmer in most of the creation metrics via passing.

The winger likes receiving the ball on the flank and moving into central areas of the pitch where he is most effective. He likes to take on players  before cutting inside and unleashing a shot at goal. His only assist of the season came against Hertha where he recovered the ball from a cleared corner and put it back into the box into a dangerous area before his team-mate headed it in with a run.

The technique of the pass where he just lifted the ball in with pace into a dangerous area in the box is something he is capable of doing and was doing well in 2.Bundesliga prior to last season. His passing is often overlooked because of his assist numbers but with better finishers, some of those passes are surely bound to get converted into goals.

Debatably, Hack could thrive under a better coach and a more possession-based setup although he can be inconsistent with the ball.

As you can see from the data above, he is someone who is a high-volume shot taker and from low-probability areas as well. He likes working in the half-spaces quite often and his off-the-ball movement would be a valuable asset for Postecoglou’s style of play. He is also a hard worker and helps out his defence though it must be pointed out his duelling numbers are inflated due to the way Arminia play. He does, however, retain a good defensive duel win rate in any case.

While Hack isn’t a shining name like Ekkelenkamp, he could nonetheless be a good value addition to this Celtic team, especially as a backup option.

Another season in the 2.Bundesliga should help him thrive and fine-tune some of his weaknesses.