There’s no surprise Daizen Maeda has been caught up in the early transfer window speculation.
The Celtic star has just enjoyed his best season at Parkhead having scored 33 goals in over 50 games across all competitions for the Hoops.
He won a Scottish Premiership and Premier Sports Cup double, as Aberdeen prevented Celtic from securing the Treble in May.
Fenerbahce are interested in Maeda, while 67 Hail Hail understands Brentford have the Japanese speedster on their transfer radar at the moment.
But just as Maeda’s base transfer value shoots up to €14m, has the 27-year-old just told the Japanese press that he will be staying at Celtic for 2025/26?
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Maeda’s two clues about his Celtic future
Via the Daily Record, freelance journalist Mark Walker has picked up quotes from an interview Maeda has given in his homeland.
And the Celtic attacker has said that he is looking forward to playing in the Champions League league phase again – that’s if the Bhoys qualify.
He said: “I really enjoyed playing in the Champions League this season because there were so many games and it gave us a lot of different challenges.
“I think the new format has been great and I am excited to try it again this upcoming season. It helped me improve.
Maeda then provided a further clue that he is more likely to be at Celtic next season than not, as he admitted the team still have things to work on.
He continued: “We had a chance to win the Treble, but lost the Scottish Cup final on the last day of the season, so I still think we have room for improvement at Celtic.”
Maeda rates Atalanta above Bayern Munich
Meanwhile, Maeda explained that facing Atalanta in the Champions League last season was a tougher challenge than the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Celtic battled well against Bayern in the knockout phase play-off, but ultimately lost 3-2 on aggregate as a late Alphonso Davies goal sealed progression for the Bundesliga kings.
In October, Celtic were swept aside by Dortmund as they were humbled 7-0 in Germany. But Maeda says the most difficult game was away to Atalanta when Celtic drew 0-0.
He said: “We played some great teams. Personally, I actually thought the best side we played was Atalanta because they didn’t appear to have any weaknesses.
“Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were very strong, but they had some weaknesses in their team, but when we played Atalanta, there was nothing for us to work on.”
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