There aren’t many more popular players at Celtic than Daizen Maeda.
It has been an incredible 2024 for Maeda and he topped it off by scoring during Celtic’s comfortable win over St Johnstone on Sunday.
This is despite the Japan star being rested on the bench because he still managed to come on after the hour mark and find the back of the net.
That end product has improved tenfold, it’s a big reason why he has been able to step up and score big goals for Celtic this calendar year.
Go back to Maeda’s opener after just 21 seconds at Ibrox, his stunning curling effort in the Champions League recently and his heroic goal and penalty in the League Cup final win over Rangers.
You top that all off with his all-action style and then it makes him a very difficult customer to deal with.
Daizen Maeda’s speed ’surprises’ Cillian Sheridan after Celtic beat St Johnstone
In typical Maeda fashion, he made a brilliant run in between the St Johnstone centre-back and fullback, whilst being played through by Paulo Bernardo, before cooly slotting home.
But Cillian Sheridan admitted that, every time he watches Maeda in action, he is ‘surprised’ by how quick the winger is, as he told Sportscene.
Sheridan also praised the 27-year-old’s movement off the ball and how that resulted in his goal against St Johnstone.
“When Bernardo comes in, he is having a quick little scan before he plays the ball to Maeda (for his goal),” said Sheridan.
“Maeda, again, his movement. He runs offside and onside within half a second. It’s hard for young Fran there. A young right-back. 17-year-old. For a well-professional fullback that has experience, it’s hard enough, never mind being 17 and coming in to face that.
“But it just shows you, every time you see Maeda play, you are surprised by how quick he is and how fast he runs.”
Maeda’s stats for Celtic this season
As of this moment, Nicolas Kuhn probably takes the crown of Celtic’s best player this season, but Maeda is certainly pushing him.
Only last season, there were issues with the wide areas and Rodgers was having to rely upon James Forrest to produce the goods.
But now, Celtic are blessed to have two high-quality attackers on the flanks, with Maeda involved in 16 goals already this term, as posted by Transfermarkt.
| Competition | Apps | Goals | Assists | Minutes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Premiership | 17 | 4 | 3 | 1.173′ |
 | UEFA Champions League | 6 | 3 | – | 493′ |
 | League Cup | 3 | 6 | – | 282′ |
| Total 24/25: | 26 | 13 | 4 | 1.948′ | |
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