Joe Hart says there’s something ‘very hard’ to understand about Celtic’s Daizen Maeda behind the scenes

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It’s proving to be a difficult and frustrating start to the season for Daizen Maeda at Celtic.

Only last season, Maeda was collecting Scotland’s PFA Player of the Year award, yet on Wednesday night, he was getting hooked at half-time in Belgrade for a pretty poor performance in the Europa League.

All of this comes on the backdrop of Maeda wanting to leave Celtic in the summer, with this news coming out once the 2025 summer transfer window slammed shut.

Joe Hart had been in the Celtic dressing room for 12 months when Maeda was signed from Yokohama F. Marinos in 2022, and he shared an interesting insight into the player.

• READ MORE: Who is Daizen Maeda? Meet Celtic’s energetic, free-scoring talisman

Joe Hart says Daizen Maeda is ‘quite a hard man to read’

There is no doubt that Maeda isn’t himself right now, but nobody can doubt his commitment to the cause, because that’s what makes him so popular.

But speaking to TNT Sports, Hart explained that Maeda is a ‘very straight-faced’ individual behind the scenes, and whether he is ‘happy or not, he is just simply ‘quite a hard man to read.’

Maeda kept his place for Celtic’s goalless draw against Hibernian on Saturday afternoon, but Hart admitted things weren’t going as he wanted against Red Star in midweek.

“Daizen’s very straight-faced, whether he is happy or not; he is quite a hard man to read,” said Hart. 

“He looked frustrated (against Red Star Belgrade), he was caught offside probably one too many times for the team’s liking, especially when they are looking to play on the counter-attack. 

“You need your striker working hard to get back onside. But it’s no doubt a frustrating part of his life. “

Hart on Maeda being a ‘really good person’ behind the scenes

With Sebastian Tounekti playing so well on the left wing, which is probably Maeda’s favoured side, and then Kelechi Iheanacho finding his magic touch as the central striker.

Brendan Rodgers needs to find a way of getting Maeda back to his best, but alongside the above duo, as there is a vacant space on the right flank that nobody seems to be taking.

“It was very clear that he had it in his head that he was moving away this summer,” added Hart.

“It hasn’t happened. He is an excellent professional. A really good person.”