Today, there has been a lot of media examination of comments made by Daizen Maeda in relation to his future at Celtic, and how he thinks this is probably the right time to go.
All I can say to that is this: those comments could have been made at any time in the last twelve months. They are news only in the sense that they are new.
We know Daizen thinks it is time to move on.
That is not a shock. That is not a revelation. That does not mean he has suddenly doubled down on his wish to leave, or that he is agitating, or that he is preparing to cause trouble. In fact, if you read the comments properly, they are very clear in a way much of the media coverage has been determined not to be.
Daizen has said he will simply continue to play wherever he winds up.
That is exactly what you would expect a top professional to say, and it is exactly what this top professional has always done. Maeda did not spit the dummy when he was denied his move a year ago. He did not spit the dummy when he was denied his move in January. In fact, he doubled down on only one thing.
Working harder.
He will go in this window. Of course he will.
He is in the last year of his contract, and there is no way the bean-counters in charge of our club are going to let him leave for free. But in terms of his commitment, if we decided to keep him for the final year of his deal, he would remain a model professional until the day he walked out the door.
I have not got the slightest fear about Daizen Maeda spitting the dummy, going on strike or pulling any of the other nonsense we sometimes see from footballers. He is simply not that type. This is an immensely humble individual whose answer to adversity and difficulty is always the same: do more and do it better.
You can argue the toss about whether we would have won the title the season before last without him. You cannot argue that we would have won this one without him. This time around, he was one of the players who dragged us over the line. More than anyone, he delivered crucial goals in crucial games. When it mattered, he was there.
None of us is ever going to forget the overhead kick against the Ibrox club at Celtic Park, the goal that won us the game that day. It was incredible.
It was one of those moments that will live forever.
This guy has given us five outstanding years, and he will go with all our blessings and all our best wishes. It has been a privilege to watch him play for this club. He has been my favourite player all the way down the line.
I nicknamed him Danger Mouse very early on because of his initials and because I thought he epitomised the lyrics of the song. He’s the strongest, he’s the quickest, he’s the best, and he lived up to all of that almost every moment he played in this team.
It is incumbent upon Celtic now to seek a replacement for a player who, in truth, cannot really be replaced. There is no other Daizen Maeda out there, and it would be foolish to even try to clone him.
In some sense, the changes Martin O’Neill wants to bring in are necessary changes, and they are enforced changes too.
A lot of how we have played for the last couple of years has been down to Maeda being in the team. When you take him out of the side, and when you know you are not going to have him again, you are almost forced to change the way you do things. So, we will.
Because we have to.
As far as I am concerned, when a guy reaches the point Daizen is at right now, where he is in the final year of his deal and he wants to go, you find him a club and send him on his way with your blessings. You do not make it hard for him. You do not make it difficult.
We have what we consider to be an acceptable asking price, and we should definitely get it. Unless we get it, it might almost be worth hanging on to him for the final year and seeing whether he can continue to score goals and earn us fortunes. But if an offer comes in that matches our valuation, we should let him go.
He seems to want to go to England, and the fact he has accentuated that point makes me wonder if there is an offer from south of the border. If that is the case, then all to the good. This is business that should be concluded reasonably quickly.
I am not naive enough to think Celtic will get the replacement business done before he leaves. We do not do things that way.
This club, run by these small little men, will not have planned ahead although it’s been obvious for an age that he was going to leave.
So again, we will probably have to scramble. Again, we will probably have to scratch and claw our way through the available lists after he has gone.
But Maeda has done his bit for Celtic.
He will leave with a name that will ring out forever. He will be remembered forever. He is up there with the best players I have watched play for this club, and I would have loved to have seen him in a partnership with a Larsson or a Dembele.
I would also have loved to have had him for that extra eighteen months with Kyogo playing by his side, because that was another partnership I adored watching.
His comments do make it clear that he would prefer to leave in this window, but this is not a guy banging on the door demanding to be released.
The media might not say it, but he has made it clear that he would stay with no difficulty if that is what circumstances throw his way.
He has the kind of character every club wishes it had all over its team. Just for those final games of the last campaign alone, all of us will forever be in his debt.
And if this feels a little bit like a footballing obituary, the kind of thing you write for someone you know you have seen play for the last time, that is probably because it is. I do not anticipate seeing Daizen play a competitive game for Celtic again, and that is a little heartbreaking to write. It is a little soul-crushing to say.
But it is also an acknowledgement of reality.
Better that it ends on the brightest possible note. Better that the story closes with him as we will remember him: running himself into the ground, scoring goals that mattered, dragging Celtic over the line and leaving nothing behind.
I cannot think of a better way for the curtain to come down than the ending we have already seen.
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You sum up Daizen’s career at Celtic well James, a player who will be remembered fondly for his work ethic, speed, inselfishness and positional sense in the opposing penalty area. Good luck to him wherever he goes, but like King Henrik I’m sure he’ll look back at his time at Celtic as the happiest in his career.
Of course that should read unselfishness.
I beg to differ James, I love him to death, but he definitely is the type to spit out the dummy, for that is exactly what he did for a large part of the season after he did not get the transfer he wanted. He was going through the motions for long spells and not playing the way that we all know he can do. Thankfully he sparked back into life as the WC approached and he almost single handedly won us the Title with his efforts and crucial goals. We do indeed have a lot to thank him for and because of his WC form Celtic will gain much more financially for his sale. He will always be loved and remembered and whoever get his services after Celtic, will be a very lucky club.
Callums away also thanks for the service aways a legend the club moves on support Saint Martin keep sevco smelly fearts and all the rest in there place hail! Hail!.
I’ll be very sad to see him go but if he wants to go to England, then his asking price won’t be a stumbling block for any team there. He’s a legend. Like you say, we won’t find a like for like replacement but there’s always another hero round the corner. The danger is with Maeda and Engels that the club won’t replace them until they are sold so if the sale drags on too long there’s less time to get the new guy in and up to speed.
Great summary James.
He will go down in Celtic history as the player that won us the title this year. He goes with our best wishes to him and his family.
When the roll call is called out will step Meada.
Warm fuzzy feeling now.
What a guy.
Dragged us over the line when the board were holding us back.
Many fond memories of him jumping into the crowd and his breathtaking effort even in the final minutes of a game.
He got Celtic.
I wonder if he’ll really give the same effort to another team.
I don’t think he will tbh as we are a unique fairytale club like no other.
Oh he’ll do it for himself but will he do it for the love of club?
I don’t think so.
It was such a pleasure to have seen him play for my team so thank you Ange for bringing him over to become a Celtic star.
There is only one word to describe Maeda and it’s INCOMPARABLE.
Like Henrik, there will never be another Maeda, so I wish him all the very best at his future club, whoever that may be and to say thank you for your excellent service to Celtic apart from your little blip earlier this season which we’ll just gloss over!
The Maeda situation sums up everything that is wrong about this board. They’ve know he’s going and for good money. They know they’re unlikely to see Jota back before Christmas if at all. His replacement should be in Portugal right now.