Daizen Maeda's looped finish at Hampden Park—a ball dropping, a defender flailing, a goalkeeper stranded—may well have been his goodbye to Celtic. The Japanese winger's opening goal in Celtic's 3-1 Scottish Cup final victory over Dunfermline capped a season so extraordinary that even Martin O'Neill, a man with Celtic's storied history at his fingertips, dared invoke the name of Henrik Larsson. O'Neill called Maeda's late-season form "absolutely Larssonesque," and few Celtic fans would dispute the claim.
What made this moment so poignant is what came before it. Maeda arrived at Parkhead from Yokohama Marinos on loan in January 2022, a 24-year-old with just two international caps and a reputation as Japan's leading J-League scorer. He scored within four minutes of his debut against Hibernian and promptly netted seven more in his next 21 appearances. By summer, Celtic had exercised their obligation to buy him for around £1.3 million—pound-for-pound, one of the shrewdest signings in club recent memory. For three seasons he delivered consistently: 18 goals in 49 games in his second year, 14 in 36 in his third, and an electrifying 45 in 54 appearances in his fourth.
Yet this season he stumbled. He went 17 games without scoring, games where he looked as though his mind might already be elsewhere. Last summer, he had been promised he could leave—Germany called, specifically Wolfsburg, a move O'Neill inadvertently revealed at the start of the year. "I had an offer and had consistently communicated to my club that I wanted to take the next step in my career," Maeda said. Celtic's efforts to secure reinforcements failed, and the club asked him to stay. A broken promise. A player might have sulked indefinitely.
Instead, Maeda transformed. In those final, nerve-jangling weeks of the league run-in, he became a devastating presence, ruthless in ways he had not always been. Against Falkirk: three shots on target, two goals. Against Hibernian: one shot, one goal. Against Rangers: two shots, two goals. Against Motherwell: one shot, one goal. Against Hearts: one shot, one goal. Nine goals in his last seven games—a goal-fest that dragged Celtic across the finish line when the season teetered on chaos. The club had lurched from Brendan Rodgers' exit to the disappointment of Wilfried Nancy's tenure, but under O'Neill's guidance, and with Maeda's ruthless finishing, Celtic claimed a double that felt like redemption.
His Hampden Park goal, his 17th of the season, was almost certainly his final act in a Celtic shirt. The celebrations afterward centered on O'Neill—fans sang to him, unsure if they would see him again—but Maeda took a quieter exit, the force that had quietly steadied an unstable club. Since arriving with energy and relentlessness that seemed to keep opponents awake both before and after matches, he had proven himself far more valuable than his modest transfer fee suggested. At 24 when he arrived, he is now 26, ready for the next chapter. Celtic, left wondering who will replace both O'Neill and their most crucial player, may not find answers easily.