ANGE POSTECOGLOU has cooled early comparison between Reo Hatate and Shunsuke Nakamura after a dream debut for the new signing.
Hatate, 24, made his first start for Celtic tonight in the 2-0 win over Hibs at Parkhead and he left fans raving after a thrilling performance.
The Japanese player, named man of the match, showed off a vast array of passing with some defence-splitting through balls and raking switches of play.
He also went close to bagging a goal, with team-mate Daizen Maeda scoring on his debut, as he sent a half-volley goalwards only to be denied by Matt Macey.
The performance led to BBC reporter Chick Young drawing comparisons between Hatate and Celtic great Nakamura - but Postecoglou was quick to shut down the question.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Postecoglou replied: "No, he's Reo Hatate mate.
"He'll make his own mark and you know, he's a very talented young player but he's a very determined young man.
"They're all different and he's one he's got his eyes on reaching the very top in football and I'm glad to have him in our football club at the moment.
"We're just going to try and get the best out of him and push him to the levels we know he can get."
And while Postecoglou wasn't keen on comparing his new signings to former Celtic stars, he did praise Hatate, Maeda and sub Yosuke Ideguchi for their beginning to life in Glasgow.
He added: "They did well. I guess that was part of the process of bringing them in early, they've had a good week, week and a half with the lads to train with them and all three new boys did well.
"It was great for Jota to get on the pitch as well and Jamesy Forrest who had injury-interrupted(season so far). It was a lot of positives there but we'll get stronger, we need to get stronger and that's what we'll keep working on."
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