Could Daizen Maeda be heading from Celtic to Daniel Farke's Leeds United in the January transfer window? | National World / Getty Imagesplaceholder image
Could Daizen Maeda be heading from Celtic to Daniel Farke's Leeds United in the January transfer window? | National World / Getty Images | National World / Getty Images
Daniel Farke’s Leeds are looking to avoid Premier League relegation while Celtic chase another Scottish Premiership crown
Goals have been particularly hard to come by with only Wolverhampton Wanderers boasting a poorer scoring record in the Premier League than The Whites who have scored just five times from open play.
However, help could be on the horizon from north of the border with TEAMtalk reporting Daizen Maeda has told Celtic that he wants to depart in the January transfer window, with Leeds among five Premier League suitors.
They could face a tough battle for the 28-year-old with Brentford another club in the hunt, but The Whites may have a secret weapon to offer for Maeda in a swap-plus-cash deal: Ao Tanaka.
Maeda the missing piece to ignite Leeds’ attack
There’s a reason that a host of Premier League teams are after Maeda including notoriously shrewd recruiters like Brentford - he’s been dynamite in attack for years.
The 28-year-old scored 23 times in 36 games in his final J-League campaign before switching to Celtic Park. And has continued an impressive goal contribution record in Glasgow.
But even against those standards, last season was remarkable. He netted 20 goals across the Premiership and Champions League including strikes against Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge, alongside 13 in the cup competitions and 12 assists overall to take his 2024/25 goal contributions tally to 45.
He was in the top 12% of wingers for non-penalty goals in the Champions League according to Opta via FBref.com and outperformed his expected goals tally substantially, while he averages a goal every four shots (and every two on target) in the last year, marking him out as one of the best finishers in Europe.
Maeda combines his blistering pace with an unwavering work rate and can hurt teams both on the break - as he showed in Europe - and by finishing off slower build-up play against a dug-in opposition with his clinical finishing.
While Maeda prefers the same left-wing spot as Noah Okafor, the 25-year-old possesses the versatility to switch sides effortlessly and has actually played more football away from that flank.
Okafor boasts a better goal contribution rate on the right wing than the left (one per 2.4 versus one per 3.1 matches) so could certainly form a deadly partnership with Maeda.
The loss of Maeda would be a hammer blow to Celtic who will want to fight to keep the winger in Glasgow, but if he remains steadfast in his desire to depart for the Premier League ahead of the 2026 World Cup, there will be little they can do to stop him.
Tanaka can electrify Celtic title charge
Despite two league titles, a pair of other trophies, five Old Firm triumphs and a memorable run in the Champions League, it’s been a bruising few years in the transfer market for Celtic.
Nicolas Kuhn, Matt O’Riley and Hyeon-gyu Oh are among the stars who’ve left Celtic Park alongside Jota, who’s since returned but has failed to replicate the same form and fitness he showed in his first stint.
The signings to replace them have too often been few and found wanting on the pitch, culminating in The Bhoys missing out on Champions League qualification (and revenue) this season and the biggest threat to their stranglehold over the Scottish Premiership since Steven Gerrard’s Rangers dethroned them over four years ago.
After only missing three Championship games for Leeds last season, Ao Tanaka has fallen out of favour as Farke looks for a more physical approach in the Premier League and he’s only played 33% of top-flight minutes so far.
The Japanese international remains a quality player though and could certainly thrive in the Scottish Premiership, with the ability to ignite Celtic’s midfield.
He made 107 shot-creating actions last season and had a hand in nine goals alongside his own scoring tally of five, with the 27-year-old’s tireless work rate, technical ability and passing radar certainly not in doubt.
Leeds also expected to dominate most Championship matches in the same way Celtic do so his proven ability to dictate play and prise open defences seems a strong fit while Maeda is just the latest example of The Bhoys’ brilliant track record with getting the best out of Japanese players.
There’s no concrete price tag out there for Tanaka but he was rated at £10 million by Football League World and his Transfermarkt value of €10m (£8.8m) backs up that this is the ball park.
TEAMtalk report Celtic want £15m for Maeda so a swap deal plus £5m for Leeds would be perfect, and supercharge a crucial second half of the season for both clubs.
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