Daizen Maeda has rocked Celtic with comments about wanting to leave in the summer.
With most of the focus in recent weeks being on incomings given the gaps which exist in Brendan Rodgers‘ squad, Celtic’s latest focus is now on a major outgoing, after Maeda’s extraordinary revelation.
Maeda initially made his move into a centre forward position when Kyogo Furuhashi departed the club in January, and made the transition to a new attacking role look easy.
But after months of interest in the club’s reigning Player of the Year, the rapid winger has now revealed that his real desire was to leave Celtic Park in the summer.
With Maeda’s future at the Hoops now in serious doubt, here are five key takeaways from the Japan international’s huge revelation.
Five key takeaways from Daizen Maeda’s Celtic revelation
Potential for Daizen Maeda to leave Celtic in January
Kyogo’s aforementioned departure was not the first time that a key member of Celtic’s first-team squad left the club in the January window.
After an extraordinary performance for Croatia at the 2022 World Cup, Josip Juranovic made a move to Union Berlin, paving the way for the Hoops to sign Alistair Johnston. Oh, to be back in the days when replacement signings came in instantly.
Rodgers revealed Kyogo to have asked to leave the club ahead of the most recent winter window, similarly to Maeda. This allowed the club to get to work on a replacement. If they make a similar mess of that again, fans have reasons to worry.
Celtic were underprepared for the summer transfer window
Whilst in Glasgow, Ange Postecoglou would often speak about the club being at its best when operating with an ‘aggressive trading model’ – essentially moving players out and in, quickly.
Both he and Rodgers have clearly stated that they have no interest in working with players who do not want to be at the club – making Maeda’s position theoretically unsustainable.
An exception may have been made for a model professional in Maeda – but if the club was ready for the window with a high-profile replacement, they would not be stuck denying a key player his wanted move.
Does this affect future Celtic signings from Japan?
Daizen’s comments have also got people speaking in his homeland, with many Japan fans criticising Celtic for not allowing him to have the move.
Is denying a player a move to a perceived ‘higher level’ potentially detrimental to future deals? It isn’t impossible. Even since Kyogo first followed Postecoglou in 2021, the number of Japan players in Europe has skyrocketed.
This means more competition for Celtic in the market – and if current J-League players are hearing Maeda complain about this ordeal, it could affect their thought process.
No chance of Daizen Maeda doing an Alexander Isak
‘Player power’ has been one of the big themes of the transfer window this year, with Alexander Isak and Yoane Wissa both going on strike at their clubs in order to force through a desired move.
Rodgers has been blown away by Maeda’s professionalism however, and with the forward’s work-rate one of the key aspects of the team functioning, it would be impossible to imagine him enacting something similar at Celtic.
Rather than forcing through a move, Maeda is more likely to keep his head down and work in order to earn it – one of the many reasons why Celtic are lucky to have him.
Were Daizen’s ambitions matched by Celtic?
Many of the Celtic Park faithful have complained about the club’s lack of ambition eventually costing them Brendan Rodgers, with a recent fan-led letter to the club mentioning this.
However, could it cost them players, too? If the club had performed better in the window, they may well have been playing Champions League football – something Maeda would certainly have been happy about.
Given his missed penalty in the shootout defeat in Almaty though, you could argue that matters were very much in the player’s hands – but the point about ambition is certainly relevant to the club at the moment.
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