Celtic’s biggest focus ahead of January should undoubtedly be incomings.
However, it’s easy to forget that one of the Hoops’ best players wanted to leave in the summer.
Daizen Maeda dropped the bombshell news that he wanted to leave in the summer, even saying that he handed in a transfer request in order to force it through.
But with Celtic in disarray at the end of the window, they were in no position to be selling their main attacker at any price.
Given how things went, some are expecting a January move for Maeda – Brendan Rodgers hinted at this. But Wilfried Nancy has now cleared things up.
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Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy on Daizen Maeda
Maeda has goal involvements in three of Nancy’s five games, starting every one of them.
Like any sane manager, Nancy would not want to lose such an important player with the attack struggling for goals as it is.
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And when asked in the media about his situation, Nancy had some pretty positive news to deliver.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash with Livingston, the Celtic boss said: “He’s really happy here.
“I knew that he had the opportunity to leave before but for the moment, he’s with us and he’s happy to be here.
“Yes, for sure, we’d like to keep him and he knows that. I hope that he’s going to stay.”
Asked what position he could see Maeda in between the wing and up front, Nancy simply said: “Both!
“He’s not a natural winger, I would say, because he’s able to make the run. Instead of when he starts in the middle, he makes the run on the side to attack.
“When he starts on the side, he makes the run towards the net. So this is all about this kind of situation.
“After that, he can be good also as a No 9 but he needs players around him. He’s a player who can keep the ball but he likes to make the run, he likes to combine. It’s all about players around him.
“But also, tactically, he’s really interesting because when I have him on the side, I know that something will happen.
“Or in behind, or we can use the fact that he’s on the wing to be able to attack through the middle. So it depends.”
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Daizen Maeda’s Celtic season so far
Maeda’s news was made slightly less surprising by his poor start to the season. In both legs of the Champions League qualifier against Kairat Almaty, he missed crucial one-v-ones.
Diving headers against Kilmarnock and Motherwell really got his season up and running.
He contributed two assists in Rotterdam against Feyenoord, leading the line with his trademark energy. When he eventually does leave, that will be impossible to replace.
Since then, he has scored against Hibs, Dundee and Dundee United.
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