DAIZEN MAEDA SET TO STAY AT CELTIC, TALKS PLANNED FOR THIS WEEK
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I speculated on today’s ACSOM Bulletin that Celtic, in our current form, may struggle to sell any of our players this summer for the kinds of fees we’ve brought in for Nicholas Kuhn and Matt O’Riley over the past 2 years.
However, if there is one player we may still be able to cash in on it’s Daizen Maeda. The Japanese international has been well below his best for most of this season.
It’s hurts me to say that because he is my favorite Celtic player at the moment, but that’s the reality. However, on past reputation alone, we could probably still get north of 10 million for him if we sold him in this window.
Martin O’Neill Daizen Maeda Talks Planned, Japanese Sources Believe Maeda Wants to Stay
There has precious little gossip here in Japan about Maeda moving during this window. A reported move to Wolfsburg in Germany fell apart at the last-minute back in August. English Premier League side Brentford were also said to be interested in the player last summer.
However, Maeda is no doubt acutely aware of just how badly things went for his compatriot Kyogo Furuhashi when he got the move he wanted a year ago.
Kyogo believed that a move to France, to play with Rennes would reignite his international career. It did not end well, and he continues to struggle to find the net at his current club Birmingham. Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu hasn’t commented on the former Celtic star. Though if asked if Kyogo was in his plans, he’d probably respond with そんなにバカなこと言わないでください！
Loosely translated, that means: “Please, don’t be so bloody stupid!”
Daizen will want to avoid this, and he’ll also know that a good World Cup for Japan, where I once again expect them to make the knock-out stages, means he’ll have options far more attractive than the likes of Brentford and Wolfsburg to choose from. The fact he’ll also be entering the last year of his Celtic contract means the club may well see it as the last opportunity to turn a profit on the player.
It’s difficult to say for sure, because the Japanese press silence doesn’t necessarily mean he’s set to stay. However, Maeda was quite open in making it known to the Japanese media that he wanted to leave back in August. If he were still feeling that way, I believe sources close to him over here would know about it, and would already be putting out the same kind of speculative articles they did in August about where he might go next.
No such articles have surfaced, and I doubt they will.
Maeda hasn’t been great this season, however he did seem to enjoy something of a mini-renaissance the last time Martin O’Neill came in. O’Neil clearly rates the player. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so forthcoming in his meeting with the press today about the need to sort out Maeda’s future this week.
Celtic’s manager said “I’ll have an answer for you later this week.” The word in Japan is that the answer is, Daizen is here for the fight.