Celtic attacker Daizen Maeda has explained why he didn’t join the Parkhead club in the summer as he held off until the January transfer window.
The Japanese international has had a strong start to his Hoops career after arriving from Yokohama Marinos. Already, the attacker has managed 5 goals in his first 13 games for the club. He also had a perfectly legitimate strike against Dundee United ruled out on Sunday.
But Maeda could’ve been at Parkhead as far back as the summer. That’s when the Hoops apparently showed their initial interest in the midst of a whirlwind start under Ange Postecoglou.
And the player has now revealed the reason as to why he decided to postpone his move as he reflected on his start to life in Glasgow.
Speaking via Celtic’s official website, Maeda said: “I still remember that night and that moment clearly. It was an excellent night for me and the team. I did have the chance to join in the summer, but I wanted to try and win the league with Yokohama.
“That didn’t happen in the end and I made the move to Celtic and I’m really happy with being here now and trying to contribute to the team. The ultimate goal is the league and if I can score lots of goals then that means I can help the team in that ambition.”
Daizen Maeda made the right decision to stay loyal to Yokohama Marinos
Credit to Maeda. How easy it would’ve been for him to follow his manager to Glasgow and make more out of his career sooner. Instead, he showed some impressive loyalty to Yokohama. Even though they didn’t end up winning the title, the intent was there from Daizen.
He arrived at Celtic with the J-League over for the season. And you can’t say it’s taking him a bit of time to make an impact either. Far from it. Maeda has been netting important goals and producing some big performances.
The consistency isn’t quite there yet, but how could you expect it to be? After all, we’re talking about a player who still hasn’t had a substantial break this season. Not when you consider he came straight from the end of a full league campaign in Japan and has now been thrown into an intense title-race here in Scotland.
His loyalty to Yokohama was on the money. It’s something that will probably have given him some real closure over making his departure too.
This always looked like a move that was going to be on the cards from the moment Ange arrived at Parkhead. It was initially a surprise that nothing happened in the summer given Maeda’s goal record in Japan. But now we know why.
Hopefully, Daizen manages to end the season with title-success regardless.
In other news, Manchester City youngster labels Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart as his “idol”
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