Celtic have hit the jackpot on “magical” star

Celtic were dealt a significant blow last summer when they lost their Player of the Year Matt O’Riley to Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.

The English club reportedly paid a fee in excess of £25m to secure the Denmark international’s signature, which made him the most expensive departure in Scottish Premiership history.

O’Riley had racked up 18 goals and 16 assists in all competitions for the Hoops from an attacking midfield position in the 2023/24 campaign, which made him the main man for Brendan Rodgers at the top end of the pitch.

The Hoops lost a lot of quality in the final third when his move to the Premier League was completed, which meant that the Scottish giants needed players to step up.

That is exactly what has happened, thankfully, as Japanese forward Daizen Maeda has emerged as a reliable forward for Rodgers in the current season.

How Daizen Maeda’s improvement has helped Celtic

In the 2023/24 campaign, the Japan international managed a return of just six goals and four assists in 32 appearances in the Premiership and the Champions League combined, including zero goals and one assist in four European outings.

This shows that the 27-year-old forward was anything but consistent in front of goal for Rodgers, as he failed to offer a threat as a scorer or a creator on a regular basis from his usual position on the left flank.

Due to his lack of a clinical edge in the final third for the Hoops last season, not too many would have pinned their hopes on Maeda being the player to step up and replace the goals that were lost when O’Riley completed his move to Brighton.

However, that is exactly what has happened, and then some. The right-footed forward has scored 28 goals and provided nine assists in 42 matches in all competitions for Celtic, which means that he has already outscored O’Riley’s haul from last term.

His improvement in the Champions League, in particular, illustrates how much his progress at the top end of the pitch has helped the Scottish giants this season.

As you can see in the table above, Maeda offered significantly more in front of goal in Europe’s premier cup competition this term than he did for Rodgers in the 2023/24 campaign, which helped them to reach the play-offs after going out at the group stage last season.

The Celtic number 38’s exceptional form across all competitions for the club has also helped his market value to soar, making him one of the most valuable members of the squad.

Daizen Maeda’s current market value

At the time of writing (23/03/2025), the 27-year-old sensation is valued at a whopping £9.3m by Transfermarkt, which is significantly more than he was at the time of his move to Parkhead.

Market Movers

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Maeda joined the Hoops from Yokohama F. Marinos in the summer of 2022, signed by Ange Postecoglou, and was valued at just £2.9m by Transfermarkt at that time.

His soaring market value shows that Celtic struck gold by signing him ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, as he has developed into a far more valuable asset whilst delivering brilliant performances on the pitch.

As you can see in the table above, Maeda is now one of the most valuable players in the squad, at £9.3m, as only three players are worth more than him, as per Transfermarkt.

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

Celtic hit the jackpot with Nicolas Kuhn

Rodgers looked to bolster his options on the flanks in the January transfer window at the start of 2023 and ultimately swooped to sign the left-footed star from the Austrian outfit for a reported fee of £3m.

It was a gamble by the Scottish giants because he had only scored two goals and provided five assists in 16 matches in the Austrian Bundesliga up to that point.

Kuhn had a fairly quiet start to life at Parkhead in the second half of last season. He played 14 times in the Premiership in his first few months at the club, but only produced two goals and two assists in those matches.

The Northern Irish boss then claimed the “magical” star had come back “looking really sharp” in pre-season, which suggested that a big season was on the cards for the wing wizard.

He had those first five months or so to adjust to life in Glasgow and to the intensity and physicality of football in Scotland, in order to prepare himself for his first full campaign at the club.

This season, Kuhn has stepped up to become an important figure for Celtic in the final third, scoring vital goals – including a late winner against Ross County in the highlights above – throughout the campaign.

As you can see in the table above, the 25-year-old phenomenon has been one of the top two performers in a host of key attacking metrics in the league this term.

His performances, as has been the case with Maeda, have caused his market value to soar and it currently stands at a whopping £10.1m, as per Transfermarkt, which is significantly more than the £3m that they paid Rapid Vienna for his services last year.

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This suggests that Celtic, as they did with Maeda, have hit the jackpot with Kuhn because they have signed a winger who has contributed plenty on the pitch, whilst growing in value and developing into a player who could make the club a healthy profit in the future.