Daizen Maeda’s reply when asked about his Celtic future isn’t what anyone wants to hear

Nobody has had a better season in a Celtic shirt than Daizen Maeda.

33 goals and a clean sweep at Celtic’s awards night have been followed up by Maeda being awarded the SFWA Player of the Year.

Maeda has gone to new levels and will lift his eighth trophy in the space of three-and-a-half years when the Bhoys lift the Scottish Premiership title against St Mirren.

His £1.7m transfer from Yokohama Marinos will go down as one of the best bits of business in Celtic history.

It’s no wonder to see that Premier League clubs are sniffing around Maeda and the Japan international appears to have given an update on whether he will still be at Celtic Park next season.

Daizen Maeda refuses to rule out Celtic exit in the summer

Brendan Rodgers is desperate to tie down Maeda to a new contract in the coming months. The 27-year-old’s current deal runs out in June 2027 and interest in his services is naturally growing.

Celtic want to keep their best players but Maeda admitted he isn’t keen on signing a deal right now and could wait to see what options become available.

Speaking at the awards, he said: “This is a world where you never know what’s going to happen next.

This a good team but I need to think about what comes next with my family and everything. Now my focus is on this team.

“I’m not thinking a lot right now because there’s still a game to play. I’m thinking about how I spend my day off, so we’ll just get the games done, then let’s see what happens.”

Daizen Maeda didn’t want to be a footballer growing up

Without Maeda, Celtic would certainly have looked less impressive in the attacking departments this season.

They have 111 league goals to their name and Maeda is one of three Celtic players to score 20 or more goals this season, but it could’ve been very different had he followed his original goal of wanting to become a gymnast.

“I practised it a lot,” the forward revealed. “I would look at the Olympics and think I wanted to be there. I wanted to participate in the Olympics.

“That’s why I was practising so much. It was on the floor and the one with the bars.

“I still don’t think that football is better! I just realised that now I’m a football player. I think the experience in my childhood helps me to move the body better.”