Daizen Maeda is a shadow of the Celtic great he was. It’s a sad sight to see.

Oh, woe is me. There are days, Celtic fans, when I can write nothing but happy joy. Then there are other days when all I can do is be direct, be straight and tell the truth. Even when it is unpleasant.

I write this with enormous regret and reluctance, but it may be time for Daizen Maeda to seek pastures new.

I was a Maeda fan before it became fashionable. Before the thirty-plus goal season. Before he became the nightmare that James Tavernier probably still wakes up screaming about. As regular readers know, I was a Maeda fan before the big goals and big games sealed the deal for most other people.

I have always had a thing about certain types of players. I was the same way about Georgios Samaras before he too became a darling of the stands. Sometimes you can see what a player is even before everyone else catches up.

Maeda’s natural talents were obvious.

Early on I even gave him a nickname. I called him Danger Mouse. If you remember the show, the little hero had the initials DM on the front of his outfit and the theme song said it all: he is the strongest, he is the quickest, he is the best.

It seemed to fit perfectly.

By the time Maeda became the darling of the stands and social media, it felt like we were watching a player who might go down as one of the absolute greats of this club.

The reason some of us believed in him before others did was simple. Even when he was being criticised from the stands, there were flashes that told you a player was there. He was alert and lightning quick. He had endless energy. Opposition defenders hated playing against him.

Long before it became obvious to everyone else, defenders already knew they were dealing with a serious footballer.

I doubt they are frightened of him now.

It has been a long time since I saw even a glimpse of the player I once thought was an absolute star. Because I held that belief before his explosive run, the period when he became almost unplayable, I feel a particular kind of sadness watching him now.

If this had been the version of Maeda we saw in his first full campaign, when many fans thought he was a waste of a jersey, he would probably have been moved on without much debate.

But last night the player on the pitch looked like a pale shadow even of the early version of Maeda. The one-on-one chance showed it clearly. There was no composure in the finish at all. In other moments you felt torn between frustration and genuine sadness for the player because you knew the old Maeda would have left defenders looking ridiculous.

Right now, he looks like a player whose confidence has been stolen.

We all know this decline has been going on for at least a year. The high-profile misses have increasingly dominated the headlines and he offers very little in terms of goals now. It does not seem to matter where you play him.

The results are simply not there anymore.

If we had a striker capable of scoring even ten goals between now and the end of the season, Maeda would probably be competing with others just to get into the team. Not long ago he would have been one of the first names on the teamsheet after Callum McGregor.

Every game he plays now I still hope, against all expectation, to see a glimpse of the player who for a couple of years was one of the most dominant footballers in this league.

Some people say he has given up. Others say he is going through the motions. I do not believe that. It makes no sense. If you want a big move, a life-changing move, you do not stop performing.

You certainly do not start delivering performances that make potential buyers look elsewhere.

There is a theory that he is saving himself for the World Cup. That when the tournament comes around we will see the real Daizen Maeda again and he will secure his big move.

The problem with that idea is simple. On current form there is no guarantee he will even be at the World Cup. If you were the Japan manager, why would you pick him?

Right now it feels like watching an imitation. He looks like Maeda. Occasionally he moves like Maeda. But he is not the Maeda we watched for several seasons.

If he is pushing for a move he is doing it the wrong way. If he is trying to guarantee a place at a major international tournament he is doing that the wrong way too.

I cannot watch this version of him for another year.

It is genuinely heartbreaking to see a player who once looked like one of the best I have ever watched in a Celtic shirt reduced to what he is now. For that reason it may be best for everyone if he moves on in the summer.

Two years ago he would have commanded a huge fee. Now you would probably accept a fraction of that.

Still, I will keep my warm memories of Daizen. I will remember the player who broke the Ibrox captain as a footballer. I will remember the man who carried us through a brutal campaign when our attacking options were reduced to almost nothing thanks to the board.

He carried that season on his shoulders.

That is why I love the player he was.

But I do not love this version of him.

I no longer believe we will see again the player who once terrorised Scottish football. For that reason it may be best if this is his final campaign here.

Even so, I still dream of one last hurrah.

Because somewhere inside him the player we admired so much is still there. I do not know what it will take to bring him back out.

For the sake of this team and for his own sake, it needs to happen soon.

There are nine league games left and at least one more Scottish Cup match at a ground where he has terrorised defenders before.

If he is going to step up again, there is no better moment.

I have already made my peace with the possibility that he will not be here next season. Now I simply want to see, one last time, the player who earned that nickname and that song.

The strongest, the quickest and the best.

That is the Maeda I will remember.

And maybe, just maybe, he will pull the cape on one last time and give us the perfect encore before the curtain falls.