Daizen Maeda’s refusal to talk about his Celtic future tells us one thing…he probably doesn’t see his future at Celtic

There is a lot of speculation in the media this morning around Celtic frontman, Daizen Maeda.

Its all revolving his refusal to speak to the media regarding his future at the club.

Understandably, Maeda was full of pride at having captained his country against Scotland, so it isn’t the strangest thing in the world that he blanked the media when asked about his future at Celtic.

But at the same time, it may be a telling move.

One thing is for certain, Maeda has not been the player we saw bag 33 goals for us last season.

In fact, he’s been a shadow of that player.

He has clearly not been happy at the Celtic, and in all honesty, who could blame him?

At the back end of last summer’s transfer window, it looked as if he was about to seal a move to Bundesliga side, Wolfsburg.

But as we know, much to the players frustration, the plug was pulled on any move by then boss, Brendan Rodgers.

That level of frustration has been evident all season long.

It has shown in some very lacklustre performances from a player who used to torment defences in his pomp.

Granted, we’ve seen flashes of the old Maeda throughout the season, but never to the extent we did in the previous campaign.

Celtic could use that player for the title run in, but I get the feeling Maeda’s mind isn’t on a future at Parkhead.

I think the combination of the turmoil of this season, and his move to Germany falling through last summer has already made his mind up.

In all honesty, could anybody blame the Japanese international?

A lot of the players at Celtic are probably very frustrated with the way things are going in the background at the club.

One of the biggest attractions to playing at this club is the atmosphere and the support at Celtic Park.

That has been completely fractured this season as a result of the Green Brigade ban.

Away atmospheres have been fantastic, but at home, a decent atmosphere has been a rarity.

That has to take it’s toll on players like Maeda, who have seen some amazing times at Celtic.

It also probably makes the decision to want to move on that bit easier.

My own personal opinion is that Maeda will be sold this summer.

I already stated this in an earlier article last week.

He is one of our main remaining assets, and as we know, a huge rebuild is required in the summer.

We know the board won’t finance that to the required level unless some big sales are made.

You’d expect that Maeda would be one of those sales.

At this point in time, I think its probably best for both parties.

Under the current regime, its highly unlikely we’ll ever see the Maeda of last season again.

Its also unlikely a manager of the calibre required to convince him to stay at the club will be brought in either.

Daizen Maeda probably won’t speculate on his future at Celtic, because he sees his future elsewhere.

He’s been at Celtic nearly 5 years now.

Which is a long time for any player to be at the club, especially as he’s considered one of our top assets.

I, for one, will not be shocked if he leaves in the summer.

I’ll miss him, that’s for sure.

But I genuinely think he’s given all he can for Celtic.

I also think its fair to say that nobody will begrudge him a move to a better league.

He’s 28 years old.

If he doesn’t do it now, he never will.

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