Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate is waiting by the phone for the right move out of Parkhead, but with the club short on midfield options for Wednesday night's Champions League play-off clash with LASK, he could be needed to shake out of his funk and earn his wages.
Hatate's exit sooner rather than later is inevitable, but the Japanese star is finding out the hard way there's no guarantee he'll get the same wages elsewhere that he's on at Celtic. 'Waiting for the right offer' is shorthand for 'waiting for the right dosh' – and there's nothing wrong with that.
Midfield Crisis
Celtic are perilously short in midfield going into the LASK tie, with Arne Engels gone, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain snibbed and Mika Baur barely in the door. Luke McCowan has proved he can cut it in Europe when asked, but over the 180 minutes of this tie it's going to be all hands to the pump, whether they are starting or coming off the bench.
Strangely Hatate is being spoken about almost in past tense already. He's become the ghost of Lennoxtown, wandering the corridors – or maybe passing through them. His presence is required now though.
Shop Window Opportunity
If Hatate hasn't been happy with the offers he's received so far this summer, then here's a glorious chance to put himself in the shop window. He should be banging down Martin O'Neill's door and demanding to have a role in these play-off ties.
Look at Arne Engels the weekend before last. It was always likely West Ham were going to up the ante for Arne and come back in with an offer that Celtic couldn't refuse. But Engels might not have known for sure. Even if he did, it was clear he didn't want to slip off quietly into the night. He was the one who went to Shaun Maloney when O'Neill was laid up and told the No.2 he wanted to play against Kilmarnock and he was ready to produce the goods. It was arguably his best domestic display for the Hoops in the 5-1 win. Engels was outstanding. If anyone at West Ham was wavering about the fee, that made their minds up there and then.
That's exactly what Hatate should be thinking. He should be begging O'Neill to START against LASK and showing interested parties that he's not in hibernation.
Ability and Risk
There's no doubt he has the ability. Hatate has the ability to drive managers up the wall because of his off the cuff, high risk style of play. It can be dangerous, especially at European level, when a Hollywood pass that doesn't come off can end up in the back of your own net in the blink of an eye. But when he does have a bit of discipline, he's proved he can more than cut it at that level.
Even last season, he was superb in the sway win at Feyenoord and in the home game against Sturm Graz. Okay, he had a shocker in the Roma loss and at Midtjylland, and then it was bonkers in Bologna when he was immense for a while and then got himself sent off for a moment of madness. But he does have it in him.
It looks like O'Neill will have to decide between chucking Baur straight into the team for his first start or going with McCowan. One will inevitably make way for the other at some stage as the midfield is going to have to put in a heck of a shift against some big strong lumps in the LASK engine room.
Hatate should be a strong option at some point. Chances are he'll have to be. He needs to be ready to step up and help drive Celtic to the Champions League. It could secure the deal he wants and rather than drifting quietly out the door, fans will wave him off with best wishes and fond memories of a player who soared at times over his four-and-a-half years in Glasgow.
