“No matter how many you score or assist, if you don’t work hard, it’s not good.”
Daizen Maeda’s outlook highlights why he is the epitome of a Celtic team built on relentless energy and a winning mentality.
The Japan forward has always impressed for the Hoops, but this season he has been the team’s shining light as they clinched a fourth consecutive league title – and close in on a domestic treble.
Maeda was a relative unknown to many when he followed Ange Postecoglou to Celtic from Yokohama F. Marinos in January 2022.
He scored 19 goals before Postecoglou left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023, with many wondering if he would keep the same influence and intensity in a Brendan Rodgers team.
He did not maintain his level. He elevated it.
Maeda scored over half of that tally in the Northern Irishman’s first season back at Parkhead – impressive enough, but not compared to his current blistering form, which could see him named player of the year.
He is already on 33 goals for the season, 16 of them in the Premiership, making him the league’s top goalscorer.
How did Maeda fire Celtic to the title?
Whatever the role, he seems to flourish.
Be it leading the line, on the wings or tracking back in defence, his pace and tactical intelligence must make him any manager’s dream.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s January exit to Rennes left Adam Idah as the only recognised striker, but Maeda has been the man to fill the void left by his fellow countryman.
With a more frequent deployment through the middle, his form has taken a dramatic upturn.
He has scored 11 league goals since Kyogo left – over double what he had done during the first half of the season when playing out wide while Kyogo was at the club.
His shooting accuracy is better too, and there have been almost as many assists, plus key goals at critical moments in some of the biggest games.
When he’s not scoring, he is setting the level of Celtic’s high-intensity game as the crowd get behind the forward, who is on his way to becoming a modern-day Hoops icon.
‘Everything that I want to see’
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is keen to extend Maeda’s current contract
As a player on the rise, it is no surprise that Brendan Rodgers wants to extend Maeda’s deal beyond the summer of 2027.
“I’ve spoken with [majority shareholder] Dermot [Desmond] and the club and spoken with the player. Hopefully in the future that is something that can be done,” the manager said.
“He’s been absolutely brilliant for us this season. Wherever he’s played, however he’s played, he’s had an amazing season. So of course you would love to tie up one of your best players.
“He’s everything that I want to see in a central striker. His work rate, his intensity and the movement he makes through his goals.
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A look at some of the best goals Celtic scored during the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership season, featuring the likes of Daizen Maeda, Callum McGregor, Nicolas Kuhn and more
“Also his reading of situations is just so good, and I think he’s improved on his technical level of his finishing and that comes with confidence as well.
“When you see him playing through the centre you feel that he’s going to get goals and he’s going to create goals.
“He’s very coachable and he’s a great learner. That’s what you want in your players. You can have players that are very good players but they’re not very coachable, but his ability to learn is also what has helped him.
“He’s got confidence and being in the middle of the goal means he’s making different runs. We’ve seen he can make all the moves and do everything that you want in that position.”
Sutton: Maeda’s been Celtic’s most important player
Maeda won Premiership player of the month for February and March
Sky Sports’Chris Sutton hopes Celtic can secure Maeda on a longer deal given how crucial he is to the squad.
“He’s inked over Celtic’s recent history of brilliant buys and, at £1.6m, he’s an absolute snip,” he said.
“On many occasions, he’s the best player I think I’ve ever seen at closing down, the burst of sprints, his intensity, but where I think he really has improved over his time at Celtic is the quality which he brings to the team and has brought to his game.
“He must be a nightmare to play against, but he has been a massive surprise in terms of the quality which he’s brought to the team.
“The different sorts of goals he’s scored – the headers, the chips, left foot, right foot. A big player for Celtic in Europe and domestically, and he’ll quite rightly win player of the year.
Maeda has played more centrally following Kyogo’s Celtic departure
“That technical side of his game has really come on and sometimes his flicks don’t quite come off, but that’s part of the game. When he first came over, he was so raw and so clunky.
“He’s come on leaps and bounds. Arguably he’s been Celtic’s most important player this season, I think because of his adaptability to play centrally when Kyogo left.
“If you’d have said Daizen Maeda is going to score 33 goals in a season you’d have been laughed out of Glasgow.
“The summer is massive for Celtic, keeping him in particular, because the domestic stuff is important, but they’re straight into the final round of Champions League qualifying.
“Keeping him is absolutely crucial. Everybody knows what he does and how he plays and how he moves, how he stretches defences – so keeping him is an absolute necessity.”