“I think Yokohama could be persuaded to make it happen” -Japan based Celtic podcaster gives brilliant Maeda transfer fee update

With the transfer gossip really hotting up and we are not even into November yet, the biggest rumour doing the rounds so far is the Daizen Maeda story.

Maeda was being touted for a move to Celtic Park last week when reports broke that Celtic had sent a delegate to Japan to try and thrash out a deal for the player.

Ever since then the speculation still hasn’t gone away and today, a Japan based Celtic podcaster revealed the background of the player and the transfer fee that his current club, Yokohama F Marinos, would accept to allow the deal to happen.

Speaking on the excellent Celtic Down Under podcast, host Jarrod was speaking about the link to Maeda and asked Liam, who is based in Japan, his thoughts on the deal.

Liam spoke back in July about Maeda to Celtic and it was very interesting what he had to say, “Absolutely. For one I’ve already seen Maeda wear the green and white hoops, albeit it was for Matsumoto Yamaga, my local team, who that season wore green and white hoops.

He played for Yamaga for about two seasons. And he was a standout. He was the star of the season that they got promoted. And he basically held them up for as much as he could.

Even though they got relegated the next season he did his best to kind of try and steady the ship. He just really run the show.

And he left towards the end of the season to go on loan to a team in Portugal. I think it was Maritimo.

If I remember correctly, and it was telling that Yamaga just completely fell apart as soon as he left and they got relegated. Since he’s come back to Japan to Yokohama, he has developed more as a player.

If I were to liken him to a Celtic player that we might all be familiar with, Scott McDonald probably springs to mind.

Not the biggest guy but stocky. Low centre of gravity. Loves to run with the ball. Powerful, despite his physique determined and will run all day.

He has that same graft, that same work ethic that Kyogo has. Perhaps what he doesn’t have in terms of skill compared to Kyogo, I think, he makes up for in greater physicality.

Plus, he’s from Osaka, which is basically the Glasgow of Japan so he’s got to be mental.

And when asked by Jarrod what price would tempt Yokohama to sell Maeda, Liam gave a very interesting figure, “Three to three and a half million probably.

Because in Japan they know he’s not quite as good as Kyogo. He doesn’t have as many international caps as Kyogo, but he is a highly regarded player.

And like I said in Japan, they always do their best not to stand in the way of guys who have the chance to move to Europe.

So yeah, I think Yokohama could be persuaded to make it happen.”

A brilliant insight to the type of player Celtic could potentially get but also a very reasonable price for a Japanese international. The January window will be very interesting.

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