NO, DAIZEN MAEDA STILL ISN’T GOING TO BRENTFORD, THIS IS WHY...
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 18 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Speculation continues to swirl today around the Celtic future of Daizen Maeda, and it makes for pretty grim reading for Celtic fans. However, as usual, if you look into things, this story isn’t the “imminent deal” some are making it out to be.
Celtic Unlikely to Sell Daizen Maeda this Summer
First of all, when it comes to any story concerning Celtic’s Japanese contingent, I am instantly suspicious of any story that doesn’t include first hand sources from within Japan.
It’s very telling that none of the major Japanese sports news outlets have reported any progress on Daizen Maeda supposedly moving to Brentford since the story was initially reported, and mostly debunked, a couple of weeks ago.
Now, some Japanese outlets are running reports alleging that Brentford have “stepped up their pursuit” of Maeda. They give no specifics beyond that.
No fee, no comment from any of the player’s representatives, nothing of any substance. Also, the source cited is the English football clickbait site Teamtalk. Now, Teamtalk do get the odd scoop here and there, but, as the saying goes: fling enough of the proverbial at the wall, and eventually something will stick.
They aren’t as bad as the likes of Football Insider, but they’re in the same sort of sphere when it comes to accuracy and integrity.
My most likely guess is that they are trying to resurrect an old story in pursuit of fresh clicks.
There are other factors as well though that make me doubt the credibility of this latest transfer rumor.
First of all, It’s interesting to note that neither The S*n nor the Daily Record has chosen to run anything new on this story.
We currently sit a little over 24 hours away from Rangers first European tie against Panathinaikos. A game for which they appear woefully underprepared and a tie which, if I’m being generous, I’d give them a 50/50 chance of getting through at best.
So, you better believe, if The Daily Record and The S*n had even an inkling of a negative story about Celtic, they would have deployed it today in all its glory.
They haven’t done that. That’s not to say that they won’t, especially if the online chatter continues to circulate without firm denials from either Brentford or Celtic.
But I believe if they were going for maximum positive impact amongst the majority of their readership, i.e. Rangers fans, they would have dropped the “Daizen Maeda transfer Bombshell” today. They didn’t, which suggests that even they don’t think there’s enough in this, as it stands, to make a headline.
Finally, there’s the simple common-sense reason. Celtic simply can’t afford to lose their best player and currently their most prolific goalscorer. Not until Champions League Qualification is secured anyway.
With Jota out until Christmas, Palma and Tillo away, and Nicholas Kuhn’s unceremonious exit for Como, we are very short of wingers. I think the most likely scenario is Daizen gets moved out wide until Jota comes back. Which means any serious talk of selling him would have to wait until at least January.
Just a final closer, I’ll remind you all once again that every single interview I have seen with Daizen in Japan over the summer has seen him speak at great length about his desire to do well in the Champions League with Celtic this coming year to cement his place in Japan’s World Cup squad.
No disrespect to Brentford, but they’ll be lucky to finish in the top half of the league next season, never mind challenging for Europe. That’s not the profile of team you want to join if you’re aiming for the World Cup.
And as this weekend’s result showed us, perhaps the EPL isn’t the “greatest league in the world” after all.