Celtic find themselves in a world of trouble of their own, staring down the barrel of a remarkably rare trophyless season in Scotland.
Daizen Maeda has, unfortunately, been at the heart of Celtic’s decline, but things could have been much worse for the all-action forward had he secured his much-wanted move to VfL Wolfsburg last summer.
When Martin O’Neill returned to Celtic for his second interim spell this season, he inadvertently revealed to the media that Maeda was expecting a move to Germany, but Celtic put a stop to it.
“There was a bit of disappointment with him, because the move didn’t go through,” said O’Neill in January. “I think it was to Wolfsburg in August.
“Am I telling you something that you don’t know? That never happened. Cut that!”
It was well-documented that Maeda wanted to leave Celtic after serving four trophy-laden years in Glasgow, but not many knew his desired destination.
Considering Wolfsburg’s campaign continues to spiral from bad to worse amid very real relegation fears in the Bundesliga, the Japanese forward should consider himself lucky he stayed put.
You can only keep one of Daizen Maeda or Reo Hatate at Celtic…
Who do you pick?
VfL Wolfsburg face relegation from the Bundesliga after Daizen Maeda links
To put their current plight into perspective, it was only ten years ago that Wolfsburg were competing in the Champions League, where they famously came terrifyingly close to dumping out European royalty Real Madrid.
Even before that, they had won the Bundesliga title in 2009, yet fast forward to the present, and Bundesliga expert Derek Rae has stated that they have now become ‘some sort of no man’s land club’, as he told ESPN in March.
This weekend, whilst Maeda competes in the Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren at Hampden, Wolfsburg will be coming up against a first in the top-flight of German football.
This comes as Die Wölfe prepare to take on 11th-placed Union Berlin, a side fresh off the trailblazing and historic appointment of Marie-Louise Eta, the first female coach in Europe’s top five leagues.
Wolfsburg will be hoping that’s the only history they are a part of this season, because if they get relegated, it will happen for the first time since 1997.
A mere two points currently separate 17th-placed Wolfsburg and bottom-club FC Heidenheim. Even if Maeda had completed a transfer to join up with former Tottenham and Manchester United playmaker Christian Eriksen, it’s highly likely his new team would still be swallowed up by this relegation crisis.
By remaining in Glasgow, however, Maeda has avoided that scrap completely.
Even with Celtic enduring a wildly chaotic season both on and off the pitch, he could still play a crucial role in the Hoops’ push for domestic double glory.
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