Rio Ferdinand makes sensational claim about Celtic player

The World Cup has gone much better for the Celtic players than most people would have expected. All four of them – Josip Juranovic, Aaron Mooy, Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers – were able to play their part and made it to the last 16 of the tournament. While Australia, Japan and USA have been knocked out since, Croatia are through to the quarter-finals.

With Japan facing off against Croatia in the last 16, Celtic were guaranteed to have one representative in the final 8 of the World Cup, which has turned out to be Juranovic, who impressed with his performance on the night.

It was Daizen Maeda though, who caught the eye with his performance, finding the back of the net for Japan. But his effort went in vain, as the Blue Samurai ended up missing three spot kicks as they were eliminated on penalties.

Maeda did earn some high praise for his display from none other than Rio Ferdinand. As reported by Glasgow Live, while speaking on BBC‘s coverage of the game, the Manchester United legend said:

"“He’s been an absolute live wire. I think it’s only his second international goal but he’s looked like a man possessed up there.“You wouldn’t want to play against him, he’s constantly running around and making it difficult for you, with and without the ball he is an absolute nuisance. That’s the catalyst for the others in his team to come high and press high. His movement has been fantastic, some top drawer moves. What I like about him is he is always on the move, especially when he drifts behind centre-halfs.”"

Celtic player earns high praise from Ferdinand

Maeda was signed from Ange Postecoglou’s former side, Yokohama F. Marinos, and the manager knew him well already from their time together in Japan.

Maeda has had his fair share of critics this season though, as he has had a tough time finding the back of the net. He did impress whenever he was on the pitch for the Japan national team at the World Cup though, and one would hope that this would give him confidence after returning to Celtic as well.

There is no doubt about Maeda’s commitment. All he needs is to have some consistent productivity in front of goal. If he can do that, he would be one of the best in the league.