Alex Rae names Celtic midfielder as possible favourite for ‘Player of the Year’ ahead of Daizen Maeda 

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Alex Rae was recently in the Rangers dugout as he watched Celtic dominate all over the shop on the domestic scene.

When Philippe Clement was sacked by Rangers last month, Rae left for the exit door as well, given that he was part of his coaching staff. 

As expected, Celtic ran riot during that time, including winning the double upon Brendan Rodgers’ return last season and now they are heading for the Treble.

Rae would have seen all of that first-hand, including the performances of Daizen Maeda.

The Japan star’s most memorable moment of the season came when Celtic beat Rangers on penalties to win the League Cup final.

Maeda played a huge part in that Hampden thriller, including scoring during the 3-3 draw and then netting the crucial winning penalty.

Since then, the 27-year-old has gone to another level and is scoring goals for fun, as many are backing Maeda for Player of the Year, but Rae wanted to drop another name into the hat.

• READ MORE: Callum McGregor reacts to comparisons with Celtic great as goals tally takes him beyond icon

Alex Rae namechecks Celtic captain Callum McGregor as possible Player of the Year

Callum McGregor is an ever-reliable player for Celtic and the one who is always in the XI for Rodgers when fit and available.

This is the Celtic captain’s best goalscoring season because he has nine goals to his name in all competitions, including scoring against Rangers at Celtic Park at the start of the campaign.

When talking about the qualities of Celtic’s squad, the threat of Maeda, the man in the middle was also lauded and applauded by Rae, as he told Go Radio.

“I think he is an incredible athlete,” said Rae about Maeda. “When you look at his running capacity in the modern day. He is actually very similar in a lot of ways to Kyogo because he is constantly running behind the opposition defence. 

“If you include the Japan international goals as well, that’s 28 goals, which is incredible. I think it’s something like 12 in his last ten.

“If you are going into a Rangers game, with that kind of form, you think to yourself, ‘okay, we want this to continue’. It’s the constant threat. When you look at the wider guys as well. Celtic have goals across the board. I think Kuhn has got 18 goals. Jota has just come back and we know what he brings to the table. 

“Then, when you look at the two number eights (Hatate and Engels), breaking forward as well, they pose a threat in front of goal.

“I would say that Callum McGregor is possibly one of the favourites for Player of the Year because, you are talking about a number six and he is just about to break into double figures, if he gets one more goal.

“They have got goals middle to front and they are in very good form.”

McGregor’s stats for Celtic this season

Celtic’s midfield is one of the toughest areas of the pitch to break into because you have the skipper himself, the maestro Reo Hatate and the club-record transfer, Arne Engels.

That means the likes of Luke McCowan and the currently injured Paulo Bernardo have to watch on from the bench.

But, at the age of 31, McGregor is putting on a masterclass on how to perform and what he wants from his teammates, with WhoScored rating his performances in the Premiership at above seven.