It appears that January Celtic target Daizen Maeda can’t stop scoring.
The Times reported last month that Celtic are “confident” of landing the Yokohama F.Marinos star in the upcoming transfer window. The paper’s well-placed sources in Japan believe that a deal will be done for the 24-year-old.
So, it’s always worth checking in on his progress. To date, that hasn’t been disappointing at all, with the attacker scoring goals by the barrel load this season.
In fact, he’s netted 22 times in 35 appearances for his club in the J1 League this term. Eight have come in his last ten matches, which is the kind of form we witnessed from Kyogo Furuhashi before his big move to Glasgow.
Maeda’s latest came today in a 2-0 win away to Kyogo’s former club Vissel Kobe, which you can see above or via this link.
Although not a classic strike by any means, he did demonstrate his pace and perseverance. The 2-cap forward is clearly never one to give up on a ball, much like his compatriot at Celtic.
Adding that kind of energy and determination to the Celtic attack would be a real boost and give Ange Postecoglou the options and depths he’s dreaming of in the dugout.
As we witnessed on Thursday, we simply don’t have the personnel to replace like-for-like when we need it. Maeda’s signing would go a long way to fixing that.
His contract doesn’t expire until 2024, so Celtic will have to pay a substantial fee for his services. However, as we witnessed earlier in the year, Celtic have the resources to attract the best talents in the country abroad.
With the Japanese season wrapping up in the next few weeks, we could well see movement on the Maeda front sooner rather than later.
In other news, Chris Sutton demands Celtic action from Michael Nicholson and company.
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