Daizen Maeda has confirmed that talks over a new Celtic contract are on hold until the club’s Treble bid is complete, with the Japanese forward fully focused on finishing the season strong.
Celtic’s Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers arrive at the stadium before the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
The 27-year-old, who flew back to Japan for personal reasons last week before returning to play a full 90 minutes in the Glasgow derby, has been one of Celtic’s standout performers this campaign. He capped it off with a clean sweep at the club’s Player of the Year awards, picking up Top Goalscorer, Players’ Player of the Year, and Men’s Player of the Year, followed by a PFA Scotland Player of the Year award, voted by his fellow pros.
Despite being under contract until the summer of 2027, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has expressed interest in tying the tireless attacker down to a longer-term deal. Reports from Parkhead emerged that the club were trying to iron out a new deal, and Brendan Rodgers said that initial talks had begun.
Maeda has acknowledged those talks, but insists nothing will be finalised until after the Scottish Cup Final.
“Yes, the gaffer spoke to me about it. But there are still some games to be played this season so I just want to focus on them,” he told RecordSport.
“We still have the Scottish Cup final to play for this season so I don’t want to focus too much ahead. I want to focus on that.
“I know this number of goals is not easy to achieve, so I don’t want to think too much about this being the objective for next season. I would like to focus on everything, including goals, and then in the end maybe I can achieve something.”
Maeda is locked in on finishing the job at Hampden and contract talks can wait. The Treble is the target now for the player, in what could be the second in his Celtic career.
