Daizen Maeda drops huge clue on Celtic future amid £21m transfer temptation
The forward is attracting attention after netting 33 goals for the Scottish champions last season
In-demand Daizen Maeda has hinted he will stay at Celtic beyond the summer window for another shot at the Champions League.
The 27-year-old enjoyed his most successful campaign since making his move to Celtic Park back in 2022 – with Ange Postecoglou taking him from his former side to Yokohama F. Marinos – netting 33 goals last season.
That has seen the likes of Tottenham, Fenerbahce and West Ham touted with a move for the forward - with reports in Turkey stating Jose Mourinho's men have been to stump up £21million for the star by Celtic.
And after escaping the league phase of Europe's elite competition with the Hoops last season, the Japan international is eyeing another crack at the competition.
He said: "I really enjoyed playing in the Champions League this season because there were so many games and it gave us a lot of different challenges.
"I think the new format has been great and I am excited to try it again this upcoming season. It helped me improve.
"We played some great teams. Personally, I actually thought the best side we played was Atalanta because they didn't appear to have any weaknesses.
"Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were very strong, but they had some weaknesses in their team, but when we played Atalanta, there was nothing for us to work on.
"When we faced Dortmund, we chose to go head-on with them and lost seven goals.
"It was this defeat that made us realise that it is unrealistic to go toe-for-toe against strong teams at this stage. That is why we learned from our mistakes and turned to a pragmatic approach.
"I scored four goals and was happy with my performances.
"We had a chance to win the treble, but lost the Scottish Cup Final on the last day of the season so I still think we have room for improvement at Celtic.
"Personally, although everyone spoke about how I scored more goals, I think my increase in assists were more satisfying for me.
"I like to defend too. It's muscle memory for me. When the team loses the ball, because I am the first line of defence, my body will instinctively start chasing back. This defensive awareness has been deeply rooted in my bones and I don't need to think about it."
And Maeda, in an interview in his homeland, revealed how he got his inspiration for his iconic knee slide celebration that he did 33 times during the campaign.
He explained: "My son was doing knee sliding exercises at home. I was inspired by that and thought I could do it too.
"I thought I'd give it a go and it was surprisingly easy, so I started doing it after that. It's easy to do in Scotland because the grass is always wet."
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