Daizen Maeda, born in Osaka on 20 October 1997 (age 28), came through in Japan before early loan spells gave him the senior grounding his game needed. By 2021 at Yokohama F. Marinos, he had turned that pace and appetite for work into proper output, scoring 23 league goals in 36 appearances.
Celtic brought him in from Yokohama F. Marinos in January 2022, and he has since become a regular part of the front line, primarily from the left. He has not always been a tidy footballer in the decorative sense, but his value has rarely been difficult to see: pressing, running, repeat efforts, and enough goals to make the running matter.
His Celtic spell has already brought four Premiership titles, two League Cups and two Scottish Cups, with one Scottish Cup runners-up medal as well. In 2025-26 he remained a proper first-team presence, making 48 appearances in all competitions and scoring 16 goals, including 14 in the league. He also continued to feature for Japan, with appearances in World Cup and Asian qualifying football.
Wearing squad number 38, Maeda is still part of the current Celtic side and remains one of its more useful attacking pieces. His market value is around £11m, according to Transfermarkt. From Japan to Glasgow, his career has been built less on polish than on persistence, speed and steady end product.
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