Daizen Maeda has opened up on the unforgiving pressure of the Premier League after swapping Celtic for Ipswich Town. The 29-year-old enjoyed an impressive spell at Celtic over four years, netting 44 times in 133 league games.
Going into the summer, it was well known that Maeda wanted to a bigger challenge as he entered the prime years of his career, and he got one with newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich.
Though, the Tractor Boys are doing okay, currently three points above Manchester United in the final relegation spot. Some sentence that is, by the way.
Maeda made the move for £10million, and he has since netted once in 10 seven league appearances, but goals were always going to hard to come by for a team that was always likely to be battling relegation, especially after havingt to change managers over the summer due to Kieran McKenna's departure.
Speaking about his move to Japanese media, Maeda has said: "I always thought that a chance would come someday, and I felt like that chance had finally arrived.
"No matter who the opponent is, it's the Premier League, so I wanted to score a goal, but I also believed that if I kept working steadily, a chance would definitely come, so I'm glad that I was able to score in a match that was attracting attention.
"The chances are on a completely different level compared to when I was at Celtic. In that match, there really was only one shot. It was either I scored it or I didn't. Especially as a newly promoted team, I knew I had to score, so I'm glad I was able to score it on the first try. I really feel how important it is to score one goal when you're in the Premier League."
Maeda deserved his Premier League move, and few begrudged him pushing for one. He gave Celtic more than enough during his long stay at the club, and turning 29, you can understand why he wanted to test himself ata high level while he still could.
Maeda was also coming off a strong World Cup, so it really was the time to take advantage of the interest in him. He also had a relatively short contract, so it gave Celtic to pocket £10million from one of their best players. It would have been a big blow if they had ended up losing him for free.
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