Daizen Maeda Celtic transfer stance made clear by Wilfried Nancy as he opens up on window

Maeda revealed at the start of September that he wanted to leave Celtic, but was denied an exit due to the Premiership champions not being able to source a replacement. English Premier League side Brentford and German outfits were among those prepared to make an offer for the 28-year-old.

Maeda joined Celtic in January 2022 and has become one of the key players. The former Yokohama F. Marinos attacker was Scotland’s player of the year last season and while he has struggled to maintain that form this term, he remains one of the team’s top goalscorers.

Nancy took over as Celtic boss in early December and has held discussions with Maeda. He believes the player is content where he right now and would resist any bids to tempt him away.

“He's really happy here,” said Nancy. “I knew that he had the opportunity to leave before but for the moment, he's with us and he's happy to be here.”

Asked if his message to the board would be that Celtic need to keep Maeda to achieve their objectives this season, Nancy replied: “Yes, for sure, we'd like to keep him and he knows that. I hope that he's going to stay.”

Maeda’s output and performance levels have improved since Nancy took over. He has been utilised both as a No 9 and as a left-winger and the French coach is pleased that he can offers threats from different areas of the pitch.

Where Maeda fits in at Celtic

“Both!” exclaimed Nancy if he wants to use Maeda out wide or through the middle. “He's not a natural winger, I would say, because he's able to make the run. Instead of when he starts in the middle, he makes the run on the side to attack. When he starts on the side, he makes the run towards the net. So this is all about this kind of situation.

“After that, he can be good also as a No 9 but he needs players around him. He's a player who can keep the ball but he likes to make the run, he likes to combine. It's all about players around him. But also, tactically, he's really interesting because when I have him on the side, I know that something will happen.

“Or in behind, or we can use the fact that he's on the wing to be able to attack through the middle. So it depends.”

Nancy was once again quizzed on potential incomings. The manager said he is still casting his eye over the squad but admitted a new striker is one of his priorities. “Yes,” he stated to a question on wanting a No 9, “but if you watch the [Aberdeen] game, we missed many opportunities and it was not a forward. We'll see what we're going to do with that.

"Like I said before, my job is to analyse my players first and after that, I will see what I am going to do. Sometimes, yes, we want to do things, but there are certain things that we cannot control. We are not the only club. There are many things. I'm going to tell you, I like you, I want you as a number six, but maybe we're going to be in competition with other clubs and so on.

“So there is a desire to get players, like every window, and it will not change with that. But after that, the idea is not just to add players for the sake of adding. We will just see what we need in terms of quality, yes, but in terms of personality, because we need personality players to play in this club.”

Nancy claimed that player identification is constantly ongoing and that he will have a big say in players coming in. He also claimed that the budget does not matter to him - it is how it is spent.

“It is a day-to-day job,” added Nancy. “We know there is a window coming up. There is no specific timeline. We have a department looking at that [recruitment]. It is about communication. We discuss things about players. The idea is to find a good one if we need to add someone.

“This is not about how much money. This is about how are we going to spend it. This is the most important thing.”