Daizen Maeda, a Japanese-born footballer, primarily serves as a left winger for Celtic Football Club. Born on October 20, 1997, Maeda has made a significant impact both domestically and internationally, representing also the Japan national team. Maeda stands at 5ft 8in (1.73m) and weighs 10st 9lb (68kg), sporting the number 38 jersey on the pitch for Celtic.
Maeda's market value is approximately £6.4m, according to Transfermarkt. His contract with Celtic, which is set to expire on 31 May 2027, has 2 years and 7 months left to run.
At the outset of his career, Maeda joined Matsumoto Yamaga in the Japan Lower Leagues in January 2016. In both the 2016 and 2019 seasons, he made a total of 27 first team appearances and scored two goals in league matches.
In January 2017, Maeda transferred on loan to Mito Hollyhock in the J2 League in Japan. During the 2017 season at Mito Hollyhock, he made 20 first team appearances and netted a respectable eight goals in league matches.
Returning to Matsumoto Yamaga in 2018, after completing his loan at Mito Hollyhock, he continued to contribute with nine first team appearances in his debut season and scored two goals in the 2019 season.
In July 2019, Maeda transferred on loan to Marítimo in the Liga Portugal 2, where, in the 2019-2020 season, he made 23 first team appearances and scored three goals.
Moving to Yokohama F. Marinos in August 2020, Maeda made a significant impact, with 59 first team appearances over two seasons, netting 26 goals in the J1 League.
In January 2022, Maeda was loaned to Celtic before the transfer was made permanent in July 2022 for around £1.4m. Since joining Celtic, he has made 89 first-team appearances, scoring 22 goals across all seasons to date. He has profoundly impacted Celtic's performance, particularly displaying his prowess in the 2021-2022 season, the 2022-2023 season, the 2023-2024 season, and the current 2024-2025 season.
Furthermore, Maeda has considerably contributed in several key games for Celtic, with performances in the Champions League in the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons, the League Cup 2024-2025, the Scottish Cup 2023-2024, and internationally with performances in the World Cup Qualifiers Asia 2024-2026, and the AFC Asian Cup 2023 for Japan.
