Celtic fans can still trust Daizen Maeda to give maximum effort

By all accounts, the club had agreed in principle to the move. Brendan Rodgers later admitted he had known of Maeda’s wish for a new challenge as far back as February. From Maeda’s perspective, it appeared a deal had been done.

It’s believed Celtic asked him to play in the Champions League qualifier before moving on. He had packed his bags, said goodbye to his teammates, the captain even confirmed as much, and was ready to leave. But once again, Celtic’s failure to manage a transfer window properly came back to bite. A replacement could not be signed in time, and the move collapsed.

The transfer window closed, and Maeda was left in limbo. When he eventually flew out to Japan, he was asked why he had arrived late. Perhaps it was cultural respect, perhaps frustration, perhaps just honesty, but he told the truth. He had been trying to arrange a move away from Celtic, and the promises made to him had been broken.

It wasn’t ideal. His comments, quickly picked up and carried back to Scotland, only added fuel to the fire. All summer there had been rumours of a move, possibly to the Bundesliga. Now those whispers grew louder.

When the new season had begun, Maeda didn’t look as sharp as usual. After a sensational campaign where he had broken the 30-goal barrier, perhaps a drop-off was inevitable. Maintaining those levels is another challenge altogether.

His work rate could not be questioned, but he looked a few percentage points off his maximum. With the backdrop of his Japan comments, the whispering soon turned into accusations, not at his best became not trying hard enough, and so on.

The easy thing to say is that Maeda should have kept quiet. But is it fair to keep a player who made clear he wanted to leave? The club pay his wages, yes. He signed his contract, yes. On paper, Celtic held the power. But footballers are human beings, not just contractual assets.

Imagine where his head was at when he arrived late for international duty, facing questions about why. With a World Cup on the horizon, perhaps he worried the Japanese press and public would see tardiness as arrogance. Without a PR minder to shield him, he gave the honest answer. That calmed the storm in Japan, but inflamed it in Scotland.

Far from ideal, yes. Did he create problems for himself? Probably. Did he take the sting out of the situation back home? Almost certainly.

The criticism in Scotland has remained consistent, but is it fair? Possibly, possibly not. What we must recognise is that Celtic supporters are still scarred by the Covid season, arguably the club’s worst of the century. Promised moves were blocked, players visibly downed tools, and the fallout was disastrous. Now, whenever a player is perceived to have checked out, every touch, every run, every mistake is analysed under a microscope. That context matters.

And yet, when it comes to work rate, Maeda continues to give everything. Against Belgrade he looked tactically off it, caught offside repeatedly in a counter-attacking setup.

Subbed at half-time, it was one of his poorest displays, but his work rate off the ball in that first half, his pressing, his effort, was still Daizen. And not long before, at Rugby Park, he scored the opener with a superbly timed header and celebrated passionately, not a common occurrence with Daizen, pointing to the badge. To me, that was a clear message, I’m still here. I’m still playing for you.

Maeda has never been one to show much emotion. Even teammates, language barrier aside, probably find him hard to read. He’s not even a football obsessive, baseball is his first sporting love. Football is his job, but he does it with absolute commitment.

Continues on the next page…