is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for side

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and the Japan national team.

Club career

Matsumoto Yamaga

In 2016, Maeda joined

Matsumoto Yamaga FC or simply Matsumoto Yamaga (松本山雅FC, ''Matsumoto Yamaga Efu Shī'') is a Japanese football (soccer) club based in the city of Matsumoto, located in the Nagano Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier o ...

. He got his J-League debut on 28 February 2016. It was on 28 August 2016, that he scored his first goal as a professional in an

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

game against

Tokuyama University is a public university in Shunan, Yamaguchi, Japan, established as a private university in 1971. It was formerly called Tokuyama University, but was transferred into a public university in 2022. Organisation and administration The University h ...

. After his loan spell at Mito, he struggled for regular playing time and was loaned to the Portuguese club, Maritimo in 2019. He left the club in 2021 after his loan with Yokohama F. Marinos was made permanent.

Mito HollyHock (loan)

Maedan joined

Mito HollyHock is a Japanese professional football (soccer) club located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. The team currently playing in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football. Name origin Its nickname "HollyHock" derives from the family ...

on a loan deal from February 2017 until January 2018. He ended the season while scoring 13 goals.

Maritimo (loan)

On 11 August 2019, he made his debut in the opening round of Portuguese League against

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

when he came on as a substitute in the 57th minute. On 25 August 2019, Maeda scored his debut goal in a 3–2 loss to

CD Tondela Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela and play in the Estádio João Cardoso. Founded in 1933, the cl ...

Yokohama F. Marinos

In August 2020, he was loaned to Yokohama F. Marinos. He scored his first goal after the transfer in the match against

Shimizu S-Pulse is a Japanese professional association football, football club located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. S-Pulse is going to compete in the J1 League for the 2025 Season, after winning promotio ...

on 19 August, and contributed to the team's first victory in three games. By the end of the season, the deal was made permanent. On 7 March 2021, he scored a brace against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima () is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Hiroshima. The club competes in the J1 League, top flight of the Japanese football league system. Sanfrecce is one of the most successful clubs in Ja ...

and continued his prolific run of form on 17 March, scoring four goals in one game against

Tokushima Vortis is a Japanese professional football club located in Tokushima, capital of Tokushima Prefecture. The club currently playing in the J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football league. Name origin The name, "Vortis" was named in 19 ...

. On 25 September 2021, with a goal against

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club was formed by fans of Yokohama Flügels as a protest against Flügels' merger with Yokohama Marinos in 1999, becoming th ...

, Maeda became the top scorer in the J1 League. On 6 November against FC Tokyo, he scored his second hat-trick of the season to keep his spot in the top scorers' ranking. In addition to being named in the

J.League Best XI The J.League Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in J.League. J1 League (1993–present) Multiple appearances Appearances by club Appearances by country * Only on two occasions there has been a full-Japanese Best X ...

at the end of the season, Maeda was also co- J.League Top Scorer with Leandro Damiao of

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

, who had equalled his total of 23 goals for the campaign.

Celtic

On 31 December 2021, it was announced that Maeda had signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

on loan for the rest of the season, with an obligation to buy at the end of the loan. On 17 January 2022, Maeda made his debut for Celtic and scored his first goal in the 4th minute, in a league fixture against Hibernian at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. Maeda signed a four-year contract with Celtic at the end of the season, when his move was made permanent. On 6 September 2022, Maeda came on as a half-time substitute for Liel Abada to make his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut in a 3–0 home defeat against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. On 2 January 2023, he scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw at

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. His form at this time saw

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

monitor him. On 6 July 2023, Maeda signed a new four-year contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2027. Maeda had his most prolific season during 2024–25, scoring over 30 goals, with his form particularly picking up from January. He scored his first Champions League goal against Slovan Bratislava, and scored a further three against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. This put him level with

Shinji Kagawa Shinji Kagawa (, ''Kagawa Shinji'' ; born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese professional footballer and football manager who plays as a midfielder. He is widely regarded as one of the best Japanese players of all time. Kagawa became the first midfie ...

and

Takumi Minamino is a Japanese professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger for Ligue 1 club AS Monaco FC, Monaco and the Japan national football team, Japan national team. Minam ...

for most goals by a Japanese player in the Champions League. It also made him the first player to score four goals for Celtic in UEFA competition since Joe Craig in the 1977–78 season. Upon scoring against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on 12 April 2025, he became the first Celtic player to score in eight consecutive starts at Parkhead since

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...

in 2004. Celtic fans also began singing Maeda's name to the tune of "

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

" by

the Champs The Champs are an American rock and roll band, most famous for their Latin-tinged 1958 instrumental single "Tequila (The Champs song), Tequila". The group took their name from that of Gene Autry's horse, Champion, and was formed by recording s ...

. Maeda was named as one of four nominees for the 2024–25

PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footba ...

, alongside teammates

Callum McGregor Callum William McGregor (born 14 June 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and Captain (association football), captains Scottish Premiership club Celtic F.C., Celtic. A Celtic academy graduate, McGregor ha ...

and

Nicolas Kühn Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn (born 1 January 2000) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Italian club Como. Club career Early years Born in Wunstorf, Hanover Region, Kühn began playing football at TSV Klein Heido ...

, and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

striker Simon Murray.

International career

On 24 May 2019, Maeda was called by

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's head coach Hajime Moriyasu to feature in the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

played in Brazil. He was also the first Matsumoto Yamaga player to ever feature for the senior side. He made his debut on 17 June 2019 in the game against Chile, as a starter. In Japan's

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

game against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Maeda was placed as starting striker. He was substituted in the 57th minute by

Takuma Asano is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Mallorca and the Japan national team. Asano's younger brother Yuya is also a professional footballer, currently playing for J1 League side Nagoya Grampus. Club ...

. Japan advanced out of the group stage after beating

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

2–1. On 5 December 2022, Maeda scored a goal in the 43rd minute to put Japan in front during the round of 16 game against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

which eventually ended 1–1, with Japan crashing out after their defeat on penalties. Along with his Celtic teammate Reo Hatate, Maeda was called up to the Japanese squad for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

in Qatar.

Style of play

Though primarily and initially used by both

Matsumoto Yamaga or simply Matsumoto Yamaga (松本山雅FC, ''Matsumoto Yamaga Efu Shī'') is a Japanese football (soccer) club based in the city of Matsumoto, located in the Nagano Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J3 League, Japanese third tier o ...

and Yokohama F. Marinos as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, Maeda is able to operate in a number of positions as a

, including on the opposite flank, as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or occasionally a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

. Regarding his stamina and conditioning, former coach John Hutchinson referred to Maeda as a "machine", while

Arthur Papas Arthur Papastamatis (born 12 February 1980) also known as Arthur Papas, is an Australians, Australian professional association football, soccer manager who is the manager of J1 League club Cerezo Osaka. Background & Education Papas began lear ...

, who also coached Maeda during his time at Yokohama, hailed his pace and sprinting.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.''

Honours

Matsumoto Yamaga *

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Celtic *

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

, 2024–25 Individual * J.League Top Scorer:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

: 2024–25 * PFA Scotland Team of the Year (Premiership): 2024–25

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Daizen 1997 births Living people Association football people from Osaka Prefecture Japanese men's footballers Men's association football forwards Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Primeira Liga players Matsumoto Yamaga FC players Mito HollyHock players C.S. Marítimo players Yokohama F. Marinos players Celtic F.C. players Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 AFC Asian Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Japan Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Asian Games silver medalists in football