Celtic closing in on Daizen Maeda deal | OneFootball

Celtic are closing in on a deal to bring Daizen Maeda to Parkhead in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Yahoo! Japan, who claim that Ange Postecoglou’s side have come to an agreement with Yokohama F. Marinos regarding the transfer of the 24-year-old centre-forward, with the Bhoys looking set to take the Japan international on loan for the second half of the season, before completing an obligatory ¥200m (£1.3m) purchase of the striker next summer.

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Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Maeda has been in Japan this season, the news that Celtic look to be extremely close to completing a deal for the centre-forward is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful buzzing.

Indeed, over his 36 J League appearances this term, the £990k-rated man scored a whopping 23 goals, registered three assists and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots and making 0.9 key passes per game.

These returns saw the forward who Kevin Muscat dubbed a “dream” for a manager average a SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as his club’s joint sixth-best performer in the top flight of Japanese football.

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Can you guess which Celtic player scored the most goals during the season in question? Let's start with 2010/11...

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As such, considering the amount of success Postecoglou has achieved with the signing of Maeda’s compatriot, Kyogo Furuhashi, already this season – with the 26-year-old having bagged 14 goals and five assists over 23 appearances for the Bhoys – the potential of the two international teammates linking up at Parkhead is certainly an extremely exciting one for all involved with the Hoops.

Furthermore, with it appearing as if the signing of Maeda has only cost Celtic a little over a million pounds, should the 24-year-old indeed go on to replicate the form of Kyogo in the second half of the current campaign, the striker would undoubtedly prove to be a contender for signing of the season.