Nancy wants ‘really happy’ Maeda to stay at Celtic

Daizen Maeda is “really happy” at Celtic, insists Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy, who had a possible summer exit blocked. The forward is “really happy” at the Scottish champions.

The 28-year-old revealed in September that he had told Brendan Rodgers, the previous club manager, that he had expressed his desire to leave in February after being told by him that he had already done so.

Maeda, who is still on a contract until June 2027, scored 33 goals during his stellar 2024-2005 campaign but only managed to score seven so far this term.

He has scored once in five starts under the Frenchman, according to Nancy of Maeda.

He’s with us and content to be here right now, even though I’m aware that he had the opportunity to leave earlier.

Since leaving Yokohama F. Marinos in 2022, Maeda has been used both wide and deep on the left, giving Nancy satisfaction.

He said, “When he starts in the middle, he runs on the side to attack.”

He makes a run towards the net when he first starts on the side. This is why this particular circumstance is important.

He can become good as a number nine after that, but he needs people to play in his place.

He likes to combine, not only because he can keep the ball but because he enjoys making the run.

“But also, tactically speaking, he’s really interesting because I’m certain that something will happen when I have him by the side.”

Or we can attack through the middle by using his wing-positioning ability. So, it depends.

A total of 29 goals from 17 league games is down 19 from the same time last year, despite the four defeats and one win that Nancy has overseen.

When Nancy asked if finding a new striker for the January game was important, she responded, “Yes, but if you watch the]3-1 win over Aberdeen on Sunday game, we missed many chances and it was not a forward.

“We’ll see what we can do with that,” the manager said. I have a job, so I have to analyze my players first, and then decide what to do next.

We may want to do certain things, but there are some things we cannot control.