Reo Hatate shuts Brighton rumour down as Celtic hero sets things straight over missing Parkhead party

Reo Hatate has insisted he’s happy at Celtic and relishing the chance to have a proper crack at the Champions League next season.

The Hoops midfielder, nominated for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year award, has been linked with a move to Brighton and having missed out on Celtic’s aftermatch title celebrations on Sunday, online rumours about joining his mate Kaoru Mitoma at The Amex grew arms and legs. But Hatate is adamant he won’t be heading south and asked about the social media frenzy that followed his omission from the title party photographs at Celtic Park on Sunday night, he said: “Well, they can leave me alone, maybe? It’s not a big deal.

“People are reading too much into it. I had my personal things so I had to be away from the team. But that’s all, nothing else. I wasn’t at the Brighton game – I watched it on the television in my house. The main thing is that I play for Celtic. This is where I am and I am focusing on the rest of the games.”

The 25-year-old is also itching to get back into Champions League action next term after admitting that Celtic didn’t do themselves justice this season.

He added: “As a team, we have proved a lot in domestic games, but we didn’t get any wins in the Champions League and that’s quite disappointing. Overall, we did well but we have to improve.

“After the six games in the Champions League group, personally I think the other teams had better qualities in terms of technique and they finish when they get chances to score. But at the same time we kept the ball well. We think we can do at the same level, so if we can improve our technique and if we can finish better than this season then I think we can compete next season.

“That would be a great thing for my career to try to impress