Daizen Maeda is having the season of his life at Celtic.
Sometimes, certain things, which may not seem right at the time, prove to be a blessing in disguise and this might have happened with the sale of Kyogo Furuhashi.
Celtic fans were annoyed when Kyogo left to join Rennes because they couldn’t understand why he would leave Brendan Rodgers’ side midway through the campaign.
Not that it was Kyogo’s fault, but then Celtic didn’t replace him during the January transfer window, despite the club knowing, months before, that he wanted out.
Jota returning to Celtic did lift the mood, but the feeling of disappointment and annoyance towards the board remained.
Yet, fast forward to the present and even John Hartson is changing his mind on the whole situation because he has seemingly been left surprised by what has happened.
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John Hartson lauds Daizen Maeda for stepping up after Kyogo Furuhashi’s exit
The man who doesn’t stop running just can’t stop scoring goals now and it is proving to be a quite lethal combination.
Hartson can’t believe what he is seeing from Maeda and how he has stepped up in a ‘remarkable’ fashion since Kyogo headed for the exit door.
The former striker explained how ‘we weren’t quite aware’ of the levels Maeda could hit when being the main man down the middle, as he told Go Radio.
“It’s easier now to say that,” said Hartson about Maeda now being the main man for Celtic after Kyogo left.
“We weren’t quite aware when we sold Kyogo and there were a few questions asked. But the simple fact is that Maeda has been terrific since he has been sold to Rennes.
“Credit to Maeda, he plays centre-forward for his national team, Japan. We have seen him play there several times while Kyogo was at the club.
“But now, I know we have got Idah as well, in the last few weeks, through the middle, he has shown that it’s probably his best position. He has really stood up, hasn’t he?!
“I was one of those thinking, ‘do we really need to sell Kyogo for £10 million?’ I thought he was a world-class centre-forward. He scored goals at every level for Celtic. Won us trophies and won us a lot of games.
“But now, it looks like Maeda has stepped up. He has been absolutely instrumental for Celtic whilst Kyogo has gone. I think he has taken that extra bit of responsibility being the out-and-out centre forward.
“Did anybody else think that Maeda could step up in the way that he has, when we sold Kyogo? The fact is that he has stepped up and been remarkable.”
Maeda’s goalscoring record since Kyogo left Celtic
There are already calls for Maeda to be Player of the Year and not many – other than Nicolas Kuhn – who can argue with that.
But, since Kyogo left, there has been more emphasis on Maeda, as well as pressure to step up and he has done just that in all competitions.
| Maeda’s record since Kyogo left | Games | Goals | Assists |
| 9 | 11 | 3 |
When you look at Maeda’s overall record this season, he has 26 goals in all competitions, including nine assists.
He is going to hit beyond the 30-goal mark and even possibly 40 if he continues in this current form.
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