Daizen Maeda’s post Celtic struggles for Ipswich in Premier League
Former Celtic star Daizen Maeda swapped this legendary status in the green and white of Celtic for the blue of Ipswich Town in the summer in a £10 million deal, much to the disappointment of Martin O’Neill and the Celtic supporters…
However everyone at Celtic greatly appreciated everything that Daizen had done for Celtic over his four and a half years at the club and respected his wish to play in the Premier League before heading back to Japan.
Unfortunately for the Japanese International, he’s been struggling of late to reproduce his Celtic form at Portman Road as it once again looks like the club were right to cash in on a player when his stock was high.
Daizen was almost away a year earlier but boardroom failing in the summer 2025 transfer window put the brakes on his agreed move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg FC. Daizen stayed, rediscovered his form and did more than anyone else to deliver a Hearts breaking Scottish Premiership title triumph against the odds last season, with a Scottish Cup triumph as the cherry on the cake.
Signed from Yokohama F. Marinos in a £2 million back in 2022 Daizen went on to make 212 appearances scoring 79 goals in a trophy laden four and a half year period at the club.
Daizen recently opened his account for the Tractor Boys after scoring against Manchester City at the Etihad, but overall he’s been struggling to replicate his Celtic form with the stats highlighting his Premier League woes.
As per FotMob, Maeda has been fairly anonymous in an attacking sense for Ipswich. On a per-90 basis, Maeda is ranked in the 9.5th percentile for shots, with just 1.05, showing he is barely getting any chances in the Premier League.
Additionally, the Japanese forward is ranked in the 5.3rd percentile for chances created per 90, with only 0.17.
That’s certainly not the Daizen we know and love, and yes some will say that he’s playing in a more competitive environment, but he more than proved his worth in the Champions League with Celtic, as well as performing well for Japan at major tournaments including two World Cups so he has proved he can handle himself at the highest level.
At 29 Daizen is nearing the age which can be considered the ‘twilight’ of a players career, so maybe just maybe Celtic got the best years of his career?
At this stage it looks like that cashing in on Daizen was a shrewd bit of business, similar as it was when we let Kyogo go for the same price.
He too has struggled since leaving Celtic initially for French side Rennes before moving to Birmingham and then on the LA Galaxy, with little joy along the way for the former Celtic talisman.
Hopefully Daizen can turn around his fortunes at Ipswich Town, which was always going to be a tough shift given it’s their first season back in the ultra competitive Premier League.
Ipswich currently sit in 14th place in the Premier League with 11 points, just four points more than bottom side Crystal Palace in the 20 team league. It’s all about survival and if Daizen gets into gear like we know he can he can keep them up.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
