Barry Ferguson believes Celtic have got themselves a transfer bargain after what he is seeing from Hoops winger, Daizen Maeda.
The Japanese star has been receiving plaudits for his performance against Livingston at the weekend but, in truth, Maeda has been doing this ever since he signed for the club in 2022.
But against the Almondvale club, he truly was excellent and it was his goal that rounded off such a polished performance and generated all the chat over the Celtic star this week.
Ferguson said [The Go Radio Football Show], “He’s a teammate’s dream. He tracks back and helps out. He generally plays on the left-hand side.
“Greg Taylor must love playing beside him because he’s back helping him out. And he does what I always mention, the dirty side of the game brilliantly.
“But he’s good going forward, sometimes he’s wasteful when he gets in good positions. But for the price Celtic paid and what he’s brought to Celtic since he’s been here, he’s been a right good signing for them.
“And the finish was a bit of quality. You could have two goalkeepers in there and he would still hit the back of the net.”
Maeda has truly been exceptional for Celtic this season. Say what you want about his final ball (which TBR Celtic spoke about earlier this week) the £1.3m Celtic paid for him surely must go down as one of the steals of the century.
The international winger clearly is a player. Japan manager, Hajime Moriyasu, continually selects Maeda for international duty and, more often than not now, starts with him in his side.
He was so good against Livingston on Saturday, David Martindale used him as an example of what his own players should aspire to be like.
Whatever the Celtic fans think of Maeda the one thing they should remember is that they are very lucky to have him at the club.
In other news, ‘Excellent news’: John Hartson is loving what he’s hearing from Celtic Park recently