Reo Hatate's agent has shut down links speculating that the Celtic midfielder could be on his way to Saudi Arabia.

Reports in Saudi suggested that the Japanese international was close to a move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad.

Al-Ittihad have been active in the transfer market already with marquee signings Karim Benzema from Real Madrid and N'Golo Kante from Chelsea heading to Saudi.

But Hatate's agent has now shut down the claims insisting: "Reo is still in Europe. There is no chance of a move to the Saudi League."

This summer Hatate has been vocal on his future insisting he would not turn down the chance to move to a bigger challenge.

He said: "If there is a chance to step up, I would like to play in various leagues. As a football player, I think everyone wants to play at a high level throughout the season. When I was in the J-League, I thought it was impossible to play in the five major leagues.

"However, because I was able to achieve a certain amount of results throughout the season with Celtic, I started to think that I would like to challenge myself next time. If there is a chance, I would like to take on the challenge. Of course, if I stay with this team, I can still have good experiences, and next season I will be in the Champions League. I think that by always standing at the top and fighting, I will be mentally stronger, so it would be nice if I stayed."

Hatate was a standout for Celtic last term and would have been in the running for player of the season gongs, if it wasn't for the goalscoring record of Kyogo Furuhashi.

The 25-year-old is currently contracted until the summer of 2026, so it would take a bumper offer for Celtic to sell one of their key men.