Wilfried Nancy eyes extended Celtic stay for Daizen Maeda

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The Celtic Star

·24 de dezembro de 2025

Wilfried Nancy eyes extended Celtic stay for Daizen Maeda

Wilfried Nancy revealed that keeping Daizen Maeda beyond the current campaign sits high on his festive wish list as he settles into life at Celtic…

Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov saves from Daizen Maeda of Celtic Celtic v Aberdeen, l Scottish Premiership, Football, Celtic Park, 21 December 2025. Photo Mark Runnacles IMAGO Shutterstock

The manager is well aware the Japanese forward attracted serious attention during the summer and accepts that further approaches are likely once the January transfer window opens.

Vídeos OneFootball

However, Wilfried Nancy, speaking at his media conference ahead of Saturday match at Livingston, has indicated the attacker remains happy where he is, and the new Hoops boss would relish the chance to build his side around the influential figure following his first victory in charge – a 3-1 victory over Aberdeen at the weekend.

Maeda is contracted until June 2027, providing a degree of security, and while Nancy has confirmed reinforcements in the forward line are on the agenda, retaining last season’s player of the year at Celtic Park remains a clear priority.

Celtic Unveil new manager Wilfried Nancy at Lennoxtown Training Centre on December 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Speaking via Celtic’s official YouTube channel the Celtic manager said: “Yes, for sure, we’d like to keep him and he knows that. I hope that he’s going to stay. He’s really happy here. I knew that he had the opportunity to leave before but for the moment, he’s with us and he’s happy to be here.”

When questioned about where he feels Maeda is best suited to play whether that be up top or down the left-wing, Nancy responded: “Both! He’s not a natural winger, I would say, because he’s able to make the run. Instead of when he starts in the middle, he makes the run on the side to attack.”

“When he starts on the side, he makes the run towards the net. So this is all about this kind of situation. After that, he can be good also as a number nine but he needs players around him.”

Nancy added: “He’s a player who can keep the ball but he likes to make the run, he likes to combine. It’s all about players around him. But also, tactically, he’s really interesting because when I have him on the side, I know that something will happen.”

“Or in behind, or we can use the fact that he’s on the wing to be able to attack through the middle. So it depends.”