Daizen Maeda reveals why he decided to join Celtic

Daizen Maeda is a Celtic player. The club deserve a lot of credit for moving swiftly and getting the deal over the line. The Japanese star will arrive with a lot of expectations around him, having topped the J1 League scoring charts in the 2021 season, along with Leandro Damiao, despite not being an out and out striker. It is safe to say that his signing is a massive boost for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

The manager will know him well from their time together at Yokohama F. Marinos. In fact, it was Postecoglou who had brought Maeda to the club. And now, he has done it again in Glasgow.

Maeda seems like a player who is the perfect fit for Postecoglou’s style of football. And on top of that, the success that Kyogo has already enjoyed at Celtic is cause for encouragement as well.

While speaking to Celtic TV about his move and as reported by 67 Hail Hail, Maeda said:

"“Kyogo has been playing really well, and I have to do even better to be successful. I will try my best.“When I met him at the international team, I was asking him about Celtic and he was telling me lots of good things about Celtic so I am really looking forward to it.“Kyogo is doing very well and in the past, there was Shunsuke Nakamura, so of course, there is a lot of interest in Japan. I hope there will be more support in Japan now.“I know the manager from before so I’m really looking forward to it. He’s always playing attacking football so I’m looking forward to playing that again with him.”"

Maeda could prove to be an excellent signing for Celtic

Maeda has excellent pace, the ability to finish with both his feet, an eye for goal, incredible stamina and good movement in the box. He has also played in Europe in the past, having spent time at Maritimo in Portugal.

The biggest advantage that he has though is the fact that he has already played quite a bit of football under Postecoglou and will thus know what the manager wants from him.

Of course, the time for theorising what Maeda can or cannot do in a Celtic shirt is now over. He has been signed. Now, we just have to wait for a bit longer to see him take to the pitch and we will get all the answers.

It must also be pointed out that Maeda is not the only signing that Celtic have made from the J1 League in the January transfer window. They have brought in Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi as well.