Celtic hit Jackpot on a “magical” star

Celtic Last summer, they had a significant blow when Matt O’Riley lost the player of the year by Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion.

The English club allegedly paid a Fee of more than £ 25 million In order to ensure the signature of the Danish International, which made him the most expensive departure Scotland Prime Minister History.

O’riley collected 18 goals and 16 assists In all the landscape competitions from the attacking position in the middle in the 2023/24 campaign, which made him the main man for Brendan Rodgers At the upper end of the terrain.

The training lost great quality in the last third when his transition to the Premier League was completed, which meant that the Scottish giants needed players to reinforce themselves.

This is exactly what happened, fortunately, because the Japanese striker Daizen Maeda appeared as a reliable forward for Rodgers in the current season.

How did I improve Daizen Maeda helped Celtic

In the 2023/24 campaign Japan International managed a return six goals and four assists In 32 appearances in the Premiership and Champions League, they combined themselves, including zero goals and one help in four European outings.

This shows that the 27-year-old striker was just consistent in front of the naked Rodgers, because he failed to offer a threat as a scorer or creator regularly from his usual position on the left flank.

Due to the lack of clinical edges in the last third for Hoops last season, it would not be too much that would not hold his hope that Maeda would be a player to step up and replace the goals lost when O’RILEY completed the transition to Brighton.

However, that’s exactly what happened, and then some. The right leg forward has scored 28 goals and provided nine assists in 42 matches in all Celtics competitions, which means that he had already surpassed O’riley’s path from his last term.

His improvement in the Champions League, in particular, illustrates how much his progress on the upper end of the field has helped the Scottish giants this season.

As you can see in the table above, Maeda offered significantly more ahead of the goal in the European Premier Cup competition than for Rodgers in the 2023/24 campaign, which helped them reach play-off after they went out in the group stage last season.

The exceptional form of Celtic number 38 in all competitions for the club has also helped to increase its market value, making it one of the most respected team members.

The current market value of Daizen Maeda

At the time of writing (23.3.2025), the 27-year-old sensation is valued at a huge £ 9.3 million from transmissionwhich is significantly more than he was at the time of his move to Parkhead.

Maeda joined the hoops from Yokoham F. Marinos in the summer of 2022, signed Ange Postecoglou, and was values ​​to only £ 2.9 million by transfermarkt at the time.

Its growing market value shows that Celtic hit gold by signing it on the eve of the 2022/23 campaign because it developed into a far more valuable property, while providing great performances on the field.

As you can see in the table above, Maeda is now one of the most respected players in the team, in the amount of £ 9.3 million, because only three players are worth more than him, according to Transfermartt.

One of the players worth even more than the Japanese striker is German striker Nicolas Kuhn, who was signed from Rapid Vienna last year.

Celtic hit Jackpot with Nicolas Kuhn

Rodgers looked to step up his capabilities on the hips in January a transition window in early 2023 and eventually crossed to sign the left leg star from Austrian clothing for a Reported fee in the amount of £ 3 million.

It was a gambling of Scottish giants because he had only scored two goals and secured five assists in 16 games at the Austrian Bundesliga to that point.

Kuhn had a rather quiet start to life in the second half of last season. Played 14 times In the Premiership in his first few months at the club, but in those games he scored only two goals and two assists.

The head of northern Ireland then claimed the “magic” star He returned “looking really sharp” in the preseason, which suggested that the big season was on the wipe wizard card.

He had the first five months or so that he adapted to life in Glasgow and the intensity and physicality of football in Scotland, to prepare for his first full campaign at the club.

This season, Kuhn intensified to become an important figure for Celtic in the last third, scoring vital goals – including the late winner against Ross County in the most important accents – throughout the campaign.

As you can see in the table above, the 25-year phenomenon was one of the first two performers in a series of key attacking metrics in the league.

His performances, as was the case with Maeda, caused his market value to grow and is currently a whopping £ 10.1 millionAccording to Transfermarkt, which is significantly more than £ 3 million paid by fast Vienna for his services last year.

This suggests that Celtic, as they did with Maeda, struck Jackpot with Kuhn because they signed a wing player who contributed a lot in the field while becoming worth it and developed in a player who could make a club healthy profit in the future.