Daizen Maeda reveals why he turned down summer move to Celtic

Daizen Maeda has endured a difficult start to life at Celtic. Coming in, there were huge expectations from the Japanese star, as he had topped the J1 League scoring charts in the 2021 season. On top of that, he had previous experience of working under the management of Ange Postecoglou as well as playing in Europe. Thus, it is safe to say that there was a lot of excitement amongst the fans about the move. But, it has not gone as smoothly as many had hoped.

Maeda has had his fair share of struggles in a Celtic jersey. While he has scored a few goals, his overall performances have not been very impressive and he just does not look ready to lead the line for the Hoops at the moment.

A lot of that has to do with him arriving at Parkhead in the middle of the season, after he had already played an entire campaign with Yokohama F. Marinos. It has emerged though that he had the chance to join Celtic in the summer itself, but decided to remain in Japan.

As reported by Celtic’s official website, Maeda said:

"“I did have the chance to join in the summer, but I wanted to try and win the league with Yokohama.“That didn’t happen in the end and I made the move to Celtic and I’m really happy with being here now and trying to contribute to the team.“The ultimate goal is the league and if I can score lots of goals then that means I can help the team in that ambition.”"

Maeda reveals he turned down chance to join Celtic in the summer

Maeda had played under the management of Postecoglou during their time together at Yokohama F. Marinos and to great success. And thus, when the manager arrived, most would have expected him to be one of the first signings in the summer.

But it did not happen until January and now we know why. It is understandable though as Yokohama F. Marinos were one of the teams competing for the J1 League title in the 2021 season.

If he had joined Celtic in the summer, Maeda most probably would have been already settled by now. He needs time to do that though, just like Giorgos Giakoumakis did. Thus, expect to see the best of the Japanese star from next season.