Martin O’Neill thinks Camilo Duran can give Celtic what only Daizen Maeda does

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Camilo Duran scored on his Celtic debut as the Bhoys were soundly beaten 4-1 by Sporting CP in Marbella. Fans may have focused on his finish, but Martin O’Neill zeroed in on something else.

There was understandable excitement when Duran stepped onto the pitch for the first time in a Celtic shirt. Five minutes later, he had his first goal.

The Celtic manager was full of praise for the Colombian after O’Neill made one comparison that should grab every Celtic supporter’s attention.

• READ MORE: Bournemouth have just shown Celtic how to find the next Camilo Duran

Defeat for Celtic in Portugal! 🚨🤔🍀

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Martin O’Neill sees Daizen Maeda in Camilo Duran

Speaking after the match, O’Neill compared Duran to Daizen Maeda as the Celtic boss gushed over his new signing’s pressing.

O’Neill told Celtic TV, “Just delighted with him. I didn’t think that he got a great deal of service at the end of all you know with the changes that we made during the course of the game.

“Overall, yeah, I think he will be a really good acquisition for us. We talked about Maeda being able to close players down. He might be the second Maeda in that aspect. He certainly has a willingness to do so.

“And I think there’s just once or twice it looked as if he was just going to break away and do some things during the course of the time that he was on.

“But overall, yeah, I was very pleased with him. He wants to do well. He genuinely does.”

There is probably no bigger compliment a Celtic forward can receive right now. Maeda has become the benchmark for relentless pressing, so for O’Neill to mention Duran in the same breath says plenty.

Camilo Duran could change how Celtic defend from the front

Every successful Celtic side presses from the front. Kyogo Furuhashi did it brilliantly and Maeda took it to another level. O’Neill clearly believes Duran has the appetite to continue that tradition.

Let’s be honest, nobody presses quite like Maeda.

If O’Neill can already see those traits in Duran’s game, Celtic supporters have every reason to be excited. Goals matter, but managers often notice everything else first.