Former Celtic star makes brilliant Daizen Maeda claim

Daizen Maeda was Celtic’s headline grabbing signing of the January transfer window and for good reason. He had played under the management of Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama F. Marinos, topped the J1 League scoring charts in the 2021 season and even had European experience under his belt, having represented Portuguese side, Maritimo, in the past. He has had a stop-start beginning to life in the Hoops though.

He scored inside four minutes of his Celtic debut but would have to go out on international duty after just a couple of appearances. He has come back since then and scored a somewhat lucky goal against Motherwell, but they all count as long as they go in.

According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 2 goals in 5 appearances for Celtic. But it must be said that Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate have outshined him till now, when it comes to January arrivals.

Frank McAvennie appears to have been impressed by Maeda’s start at Celtic though. As reported by Football Insider, he said:

"“He’s been brilliant. Maeda scored on his debut and then obviously it’s been hard for him because he’s been away with Japan but he got himself another at the weekend.“Giakoumakis has been doing well lately but maybe hasn’t scored as many as he would like.“Things will get interesting when Kyogo comes back. That might just put a bit of pressure on Maeda to keep scoring.“But, as I have to say, I have been really pleased by what I have seen from him so far.”"

Former Celtic star makes brilliant Maeda claim

It is safe to say that Maeda’s arrival has given Celtic a lot of flexibility up top. The Japanese star can play as a striker or on the left flank.

And while his start might not have been as brilliant as those of Kyogo, Hatate or O’Riley, it has to be said that Maeda has been pretty good in his own right and will only be expected to get better as he adjusts to Scottish football as well as his new teammates.

Postecoglou has also been helped by Giorgos Giakoumakis finally hitting some form and impressing after the winter break. The Greek striker has shown that he is someone that the team can rely upon and a very different option to what Celtic already have in their ranks.