Maeda’s Blocked Exit Underlines Celtic’s Recruitment Crisis this summer
Daizen Maeda’s admission that Celtic blocked his summer transfer highlights a summer of recruitment failures. With Maeda set to leave, Celtic must urgently find a proven, quality replacement.
Daizen Maeda has made it clear this summer that he wanted to leave Celtic, aiming to take the next step in his career with an offer on the table from another club, believed to be Brentford in the Premier League.
However, despite his eagerness, Celtic blocked the move, keeping the forward at Parkhead against his wishes. Maeda’s early performances this season gave fans a clear indication that his focus was elsewhere, not wanting to risk injury before his move away from the club.
The 27-year-old has been a crucial player since joining Celtic in January 2022, scoring 63 goals, and earning the Scottish Premiership Player of the Year award last season. He admitted that despite pushing the club for a move until the final hours of the transfer window, Celtic’s failure to adequately strengthen their squad left them with no choice but to keep him at Parkhead.
Selling Maeda this summer would have undoubtedly intensified fan unrest. Fans were already frustrated with the board after a disastrous transfer window where key attacking players like Kyogo Furuhashi [January], Adam Idah, and Nicolas Kuhn were allowed to leave without adequate replacements. Losing Maeda amid that chaos would have been seen as a further betrayal, compounding the sense that the club’s leadership is out of touch and refusing to properly back manager Brendan Rodgers - who is highly likely heading out of the door next summer. The decision to block Maeda’s sale, therefore, was likely a pragmatic move to avoid further alienating supporters during a turbulent period.
Now that it is clear Maeda wants to leave, and with his contract running for another two years, Celtic face mounting pressure to plan for the future immediately. Whether Maeda departs in the upcoming January transfer window or next summer, the club must find a quality replacement. This cannot be another gamble on a project player without immediate impact; Celtic need a proven, reliable replacement to fill the void Maeda’s eventual departure will leave.
The board’s failure to invest wisely and strengthen this summer has left the club vulnerable and fans restless. Celtic’s recruitment fiasco must not be repeated. A quality, experienced signing who can deliver results quickly is essential if the club is to keep pushing for domestic glory and secure Champions League qualification next summer - a target that they threw away this year due their failure to strengthen.
Maeda himself is now resigned to finishing the first half of the season at Celtic and has stated his intention to give his best for the team in the meantime. But the writing is on the wall. The club must act with urgency to identify and secure a top-class replacement. The fans expect decisive, ambitious moves - and losing Maeda without a suitable successor would be the final nail in the board’s coffin.
Daizen Maeda’s performances this season have confirmed what many suspected and while he Celtic board’s decision to block his summer sale was a necessity as they couldn’t realistically sell Kuhn and Maeda at the same time. The club must now look forward and find a true replacement, ensuring that the attacking firepower and ambition fans continue to crave is not further weakened by the board’s continued mismanagement of the club. The mistakes of this summer cannot be repeated if Celtic is to regain its footing and compete in Europe once again.