Latest news with #Maeda
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Daizen Maeda on Celtic Champions League lesson learned
The Japanese ace was a multiple Player of the Year award winner and helped Celtic to the double before they suffered a shock Scottish Cup Final defeat to Aberdeen. Celtic also qualified for the next stage of the Champions League before they were edged out by this season's Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate. And Maeda insisted he loved the new look competition after admitting a 7-1 battering by Borussia Dortmund made them rethink their approach. Read more: 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."
The National
2 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Daizen Maeda on Celtic Champions League lesson learned
And he reckons the expanded competition helped improve his game. The Japanese ace was a multiple Player of the Year award winner and helped Celtic to the double before they suffered a shock Scottish Cup Final defeat to Aberdeen. Celtic also qualified for the next stage of the Champions League before they were edged out by this season's Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate. And Maeda insisted he loved the new look competition after admitting a 7-1 battering by Borussia Dortmund made them rethink their approach. Read more: 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."
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Celtic's Daizen Maeda is Premiership's MVP as value soars
Maeda began the season as a marauding winger who pressed high up the pitch and tracked back, with the end product of goals and assists too. But he also helped the Hoops forget about Kyogo by filling his countryman's centre-forward berth after his move to Rennes. Celts hope to tie the 27-year-old down to a new contract to fend off inevitable interest. Although he does have two years left on his current deal, meaning any offer would have to be a substantial one to persuade the club to part this summer. Read more: Transfermarkt certainly seem to agree after the site delivered updates on the market values of players across the Premiership. Maeda now sits top of the tree as they value him at €15million (£12.8m), up €4m from his previous ranking. Celtic completely dominate the top five with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Arne Engels and Nicolas Kuhn following their teammate. Nicolas Raskin is the first Rangers player to feature, coming in sixth place with a valuation of €10m (£8.5m). (Image: Transfermarkt) Celtic's Alistair Johnston follows and Motherwell's Lennon Miller, Rangers' Mohamed Diomande and Celtic's Jota make up the top ten. Along with Maeda, Miller is the league's biggest mover up the way with a boost of €4m. Rangers striker Danilo has seen the Premiership's biggest downgrade with his value slipping by €2m.
The National
3 days ago
- Sport
- The National
Celtic's Daizen Maeda is Premiership's MVP as value soars
The Japanese forward was named PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year and made it a double with the Scottish Football Writers' Association award after a campaign in which he hit a whopping 33 goals. Maeda began the season as a marauding winger who pressed high up the pitch and tracked back, with the end product of goals and assists too. But he also helped the Hoops forget about Kyogo by filling his countryman's centre-forward berth after his move to Rennes. Celts hope to tie the 27-year-old down to a new contract to fend off inevitable interest. Although he does have two years left on his current deal, meaning any offer would have to be a substantial one to persuade the club to part this summer. Read more: Transfermarkt certainly seem to agree after the site delivered updates on the market values of players across the Premiership. Maeda now sits top of the tree as they value him at €15million (£12.8m), up €4m from his previous ranking. Celtic completely dominate the top five with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Arne Engels and Nicolas Kuhn following their teammate. Nicolas Raskin is the first Rangers player to feature, coming in sixth place with a valuation of €10m (£8.5m). (Image: Transfermarkt) Celtic's Alistair Johnston follows and Motherwell's Lennon Miller, Rangers' Mohamed Diomande and Celtic's Jota make up the top ten. Along with Maeda, Miller is the league's biggest mover up the way with a boost of €4m. Rangers striker Danilo has seen the Premiership's biggest downgrade with his value slipping by €2m.
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Scotsman
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Celtic reject bid as €25m bar set, Rangers exit agreed, Aberdeen sign German starlet
Your daily dose of Scottish football transfer news Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The season may be over but a busy summer of transfer activity is only just beginning as clubs look to reshape their squads ahead of the 2025-26 campaign. Here is a round-up of the latest rumours swirling around Scottish football this Friday lunchtime ahead of the transfer window reopening on Monday, June 16... Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Celtic reject bid as €25m bar set Celtic have reportedly turned down a lowball offer from Fenerbahce for star forward Daizen Maeda. The Japanese international is attracting interest after a steller season where he netted 33 goals in 52 games for the Scottish champions, playing both on the wing and as the central striker following the January departure of Kyogo Furuhashi. Multiple reports in Turkey have claimed that Fenerbahce have identified the 27-year-old as the man they want to replace Allan Saint-Maximin, who will return to Saudi club Al Ahli following his loan move. It is claimed that Jose Mourinho's side have submitted an opening bid of €10m (£8.4m) which has been rejected out of hand by Celtic, who have set the bar at the €25m (£21m) for the PFA and Scottish Football Writers Player of the Year. It is also claimed that Tottenham are showing an interest in Maeda, although any offer is likely to depend on whether Ange Postecoglou remains in charge at the Premier League club. The ex-Celtic boss, who brought Maeda to Parkhead for just over £1m in 2022, is fighting to keep his job despite winning the Europa League last month. Celtic have reportedly rejected an approach from Fenerbahce for star forward Daizen Maeda. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group Aberdeen snap up German prospect Aberdeen have secured the signing of German youth international Emmanuel Gyamfi. The 20-year-old left-back joins on a four-year deal from Bundesliga 2 side FC Schalke 04 for an undisclosed fee. 'I'm really happy to be here and so are my family, so I am ready to go,' he said. 'Now that everything is sorted, I can focus on pre-season, and I am going to work hard before training starts. It was nice to see all the fan celebrations after winning the cup. It motivates me to want to do it again as you can see how much they love Aberdeen. Obviously it's a dream to play in Europe, on that stage. It can be challenging but we are going to be ready as a team after a strong pre-season.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Gyamfi is a product of the youth academy at Schalke and although he never made a first-team appearance, he caught the eye during a recent loan spell with Dutch second tier side VVV-Venlo. Dons boss Jimmy Thelin added: 'Emmanuel is a player we have been monitoring for some time. He possesses all the attributes we are looking for in a modern full-back. He's dynamic and has a great work ethic. His development at Schalke and his recent loan spell demonstrates his potential and we believe this will be the environment in which he can thrive.' Robin Propper is on his way out of Rangers after less than a year at the club. | SNS Rangers exit agreed Rangers are set to cut their losses by sanctioning the sale of defender Robin Propper after less than a year with the club. The Ibrox club paid £2.5million to sign the 31-year-old from Dutch side FC Twente last summer but after an unconvincing debut season in Scotland he is set to return to his former side in a cut price deal. According to reports in the Netherlands, Rangers will only recoup half of the money spent on Propper with terms agreed on a £1.2m transfer. The centre-back remains highly regarded at FC Twente having previously captained the side prior to his move to Rangers. The departure of Propper and fellow defender Leon Balogun has freed up space for new head coach Russell Martin to bring in his own centre-halves as he looks to put his own stamp on the side ahead of the new season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Declan Gallagher has found a new club after departing Dundee United. | SNS Group Ex-Scotland star finds new club Former Dundee United defender Declan Gallagher has found a new club. The nine-time Scotland international was released by the Tannadice club at the end of the season following two years with the Tangerines. He played a major role in the club's Championship title win before helping them secure European football with a fourth-placed finish in the Premiership last term. Now Gallagher is back in the Championship aiming for the fourth promotion of his career after signing a one-year deal with relegated Ross County.
