Celtic look set to continue their activity in the transfer market with the imminent announcements of Yang Hyun-jun and Kwon Hyeok-kyu and Legia Warsaw’s Polish defender Maik Nawrocki.
When the club do finally make the big announcement, that would mean Brendan Rodgers has brought in five players in the last few weeks (six if you include the permanent signing of Tomoki Iwata) as the Celtic manager looks to defend the Treble and make his mark in Europe.
Barring Nawrocki, every signing that has been made so far is with the midfield and attacking options in mind but many fans will be wondering if Rodgers has a plan to add a striker to the ranks.
As it stands, Kyogo Furuhashi and Hyeongyu Oh are the only two recognised strikers at the club. We do have players like Liel Abada who can fill in if needed, but adding another striker does seem like a priority in the eyes of many fans.
But it seems that may not be the case. Brendan Rodgers could have solved the third striker problem in Japan. Daizen Maeda has shown over the course of the fixtures against Yokohama F Marinos and Gamba Osaka that he is more than capable of playing the lone striker role.
Of course, you cannot look into a friendly performance too much as these games are more about getting minutes into the legs than anything else, but let’s not pretend that Maeda didn’t impress.
The Japanese striker was his usual relentless self. Leading the Celtic press from the front, Maeda used his engine to add aggression to the press and the Celtic attack.
His three goals against Yokohama (as did his disallowed goal against Gamba Osaka) showed that his movement, speed and clinical finishing could mean that Rodgers doesn’t need to look in the transfer market for a new striker. He has been here all along.
Maeda himself revealed that he has been used as a striker in training and that Rodgers is looking for the Celtic frontmen to drop deeper into midfield to create confusion amongst opposition defenders.
When that happens, the speed of Maeda could be used as an effective weapon to break down stubborn defences. Like I said. You can’t read too much into players performances or team results in friendlies.
But it is difficult to deny that what we witnessed from Maeda in the Japan Tour does bode well for the Celtic attack in the season to come.
In other news, Alan Thompson’s insight on Kwon Hyeok-kyu and what he’s been told about Celtic’s Japanese Bhoys
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