New Burnley signing Reo Hatate was travelling to join Blackburn Rovers when the Clarets hijacked the deadline day deal.talkSPORT has learned an agreement between Celtic and Blackburn was in place to loan the 28-year-old midfielder before Burnley swooped in under the noses of their fiercest rivals.Celtic’s Hatate joined Burnley after agreeing to sign for rivals BlackburnKenny RamsayHatate was given permission to travel and looked set to link up with compatriots Yuki Ohashi and Ryoya Morishita at Ewood Park.Blackburn were under the impression that, even by late afternoon, the deal would go through for the Japan international.Yet while en route to undergo a Rovers medical, and with only hours left on deadline day, Burnley moved in to agree a fee with Celtic, with the Scottish champions favouring a permanent exit.The Clarets have paid around £6.5million plus add-ons for Hatate and he has signed a three-year contract at the club.In a fortunate coincidence, Hatate was already heading in the right direction, so the change of destination was easy.Burnley’s Turf Moor and Blackburn’s Ewood Park are only 15 miles apart.And he won’t have to wait too long to come up against the club he could have joined, as Burnley host Blackburn on November 22 in the East Lancashire derby.Hatate made 191 appearances and scored 33 for Celtic since joining from Kawasaki Frontale in 2022. He won five league titles, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups during his time at Celtic Park.Hatate now heads to Turf Moor to bolster the midfield as Burnley seek an immediate return to the Premier League.View Tweet: https://x.com/BurnleyOfficial/status/2094916133581410560?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHatate: ‘A great move for me’ Hatate was delighted to join Burnley after the hijack, joining up with Nicky Hayen’s side ahead of their clash against Middlesbrough.“This is a great move for me,” he told the club’s website. “It’s my first time playing in England and it’s a fantastic club to be joining.“I’m hoping to bring my experience and knowledge to the dressing room and help the team on the pitch as much as possible to achieve our aim.”Burnley take on Boro on Wednesday evening at 8pm, with talkSPORT 2 providing exclusive coverage of the action.Commentary will come from Ian Danter and Cameron Jerome.Listen talkSPORT through the website or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.Download and listen to all our live commentaries via the talkSPORT app, whilst talkSPORT is also available to watch on Samsung TV Plus.Subscribe to the talkSPORT YouTube channel for news, views and analysis plus our regular goals show and for more, follow us on talkSPORT Facebook and talkSPORT on X.For the latest odds and bet boosts for every big event, visit talkSPORT BET.