Brendan Rodgers states what was ‘on the back of my mind’ when ‘I first saw’ Celtic’s Daizen Maeda

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Daizen Maeda put on a serious show for Celtic fans this season.

The all-action forward has always had energy to his game, and the ability to cause havoc with just his pressing and aggressive nature without the ball.

But Maeda took things to another level, and deservedly got the plaudits for it all at the end of the season, including from his manager, Brendan Rodgers.

The Celtic manager, as he proved with Moussa Dembele, James Forrest, from his first spell, and Scott Sinclair, to name a few, he always gets the absolute maximum from his forward players.

That’s why Maeda was named the PFA’s Player of the Year for his outstanding contribution to Celtic winning the double, including a 55th Premiership crown.

• READ MORE: Daizen Maeda’s reply when asked about his Celtic future isn’t what anyone wants to hear

Brendan Rodgers on Daizen Maeda as a centre-forward

For the first half of the season, Maeda was deployed on the left flank because Kyogo Furuhashi was playing up top, and when it wasn’t him, it was Adam Idah.

But Rodgers has shared that, ever since he returned to Glasgow for his second spell, he had it in the ‘back of my mind’ that Maeda was a forward.

Rodgers noted the games that made him realise the Japan star can do a job up front, after his 33 goals in all competitions this term, as he told Sky Sports’ Celtic: Another Season in Paradise (29/05/25).

“He has been brilliant,” stated Rodgers. “I think he has won every award going, and that tells you how good he has been.

“I think what you have with Daizen is that he is so adaptable. I think when I first saw him with Japan, he was playing as a striker. He played a lot there, for them.

“He played for me when I first came in for pre-season. I saw a first glimpse of him, in one of my teams, playing up front away in Yokohama, and he scored a hat-trick in that game.

“So, I knew at the back of my mind that he could play as a striker. But between both positions, he has been prolific. He would score goals from the wide area, and he will score goals centrally.

“It’s the other value that he gives the team, in terms of the pressing and the intensity. That’s a huge benefit for us.”

Maeda’s stats as a centre-forward for Celtic

There were games where Maeda would end up as a centre-forward in the second half, such as the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich – and he proceeded to score in that first leg encounter.

But when you look at the starts Maeda made, and break it down with each position, it’s clear to see that he absolutely cooked playing as a central striker.

If Celtic manage to keep Maeda ahead of the summer transfer window re-opening, then it’s something Rodgers needs to look at next season, and how he might already have his starting striker on board.