New Celtic bhoy Daizen Maeda confirmed this week he turned down a summer move to Celtic that would’ve seen him come into the club at the same time as Kyogo.
Ange Postecoglou left for Glasgow in the summer with Maeda staying behind at Yokohama Marinos in an attempt to carry on the good work set down by Ange.
The Celtic manager wanted Daizen in as soon as possible but understood the Japanese star was loyal to Marinos and wanted to see out the season.
Maeda told the Celtic View : “I did have the chance to join in the summer, but I wanted to try and win the league with Yokohama.
“That didn’t happen in the end and I made the move to Celtic and I’m really happy with being here now and trying to contribute to the team.
“The ultimate goal is the league and if I can score lots of goals then that means I can help the team in that ambition.”
Celtic snapped up Kyogo in the summer and for the first half of the season, the Japanese striker lit up the Scottish Premiership. After succumbing to injury in December, we’ve not seen any of Kyogo but Daizen has come in and made a positive contribution – helping the team to the top of the league.
The Celtic squad really feels like an ensemble cast of players rather than one or two standouts. Everyone is doing their bit and on any given game, most players in the side could come out with the plaudits.
Ange has cultivated a real feel-good factor at the club.
