Chris Sutton names one thing Daizen Maeda does at Celtic that not even Henrik Larsson is better at 

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Celtic have been blessed to have some serious goalscorers don the club’s colours over the years and decades.

The man who comes to mind first is the King of Kings, Henrik Larsson, one of the greatest players in Celtic’s history.

That fresh-faced Swedish superstar, who arrived in Glasgow in 1997 with those magnificent dreadlocks, went on to become one of the best players Scotland has ever seen.

Fast forward to the present and the current stars are trying to write their names into those legendary books, with Daizen Maeda leading that charge.

This is Maeda’s best season of his career and he is bound to win Player of the Year given what he has produced.

There is no doubt that Maeda is a Celtic legend, but even his recent rise and performances have come as a surprise to some.

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Chris Sutton admits Daizen Maeda ‘surprise’ at Celtic

That’s 28 goals in all competitions for Maeda, including four strikes in the Champions League, only Larsson himself has scored as many during a single European campaign for the club.

Whatever the Japan star does from here on in, he won’t surpass the legacy of Larsson, but Chris Sutton feels there is one area that Maeda can’t be matched.

Never mind just Larsson himself, Sutton thinks that Maeda is the best player he has seen at pressing opponents than anyone else he has seen during his time watching football, as he told Sky Sports Football (16/03/25 at 12pm).

“I think he is (Maeda Player of the Year), I think it was Nicolas Kuhn earlier on in the season,” said Sutton.

“But since he has shown how adaptable he, as much as he is, going into that centre-forward role. We knew that he could play that role when he first joined Celtic, but he has been phenomenal. He has surprised me in the nicest possible way.

“It was interesting listening to that interview, he was talking about closing down being more important than goals and assists.

“Do you know what? Throughout my career, and I watch a lot of football. I don’t think I have ever seen anybody as good at shutting players down, as Daizen Maeda, with the intensity which he does have and a lot of players don’t have the purpose or the intelligence which he has. 

“What he has really improved, I think over the last couple of seasons, under Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers, is his game intelligence and awareness. I think, in terms of his link-up play, that has got much better.

“He has proven to be such a valuable player for Celtic, whether it is out left, out right or now as a centre-forward.”

Maeda’s season in numbers

When Kyogo Furuhashi left Celtic in January, the reaction from the fans wasn’t great because he wasn’t replaced.

But, in truth, Celtic or Brendan Rodgers just haven’t missed him and Maeda has played a big part in that.

That’s 28 goals to his name, with plenty more league games to go, as well as the push for the Treble, so he can seriously hit stronger numbers yet.