Ipswich Town Signs Daizen Maeda from Celtic
Ipswich Town have made their statement signing of the summer, prising Daizen Maeda from Celtic on a three-year deal and handing the Japan forward the Premier League stage he has craved.
The 28-year-old arrives for a reported £10m fee, the latest piece in Gary O’Neil’s rebuild at Portman Road after promotion, and a player whose game is defined by one thing above all else: relentlessness.
From J-League gamble to Celtic mainstay
When Maeda first walked through the doors at Celtic in late 2022, on loan from Yokohama F Marinos, he did so as a relatively unknown J-League attacker. A project player. A curiosity in the early days of the Ange Postecoglou revolution.
He leaves Glasgow as a serial winner.
Across 212 appearances, Maeda scored 79 goals and helped Celtic to five league titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups. His pace, his pressing, his willingness to run until the tank was empty turned him from squad option into fan favourite and, at times, saviour.
The 2025-26 season sealed that status.
With Celtic failing to adequately replace Kyogo Furuhashi through the middle, Maeda was pushed into the role of central striker and asked to carry the attack for almost the entire campaign. For a while, it looked like the gamble might backfire. He hit a barren run of one goal in 18 games as Celtic slipped behind Hearts in the title race.
Then everything changed.
The season that defined him
With the pressure rising and the margin for error gone, Maeda caught fire. Seven goals in five Premiership matches. Two of them winners. Each one dragging Celtic closer to the line.
The defining moment came on the final day, at a packed and anxious Celtic Park, with the title on the line against Hearts. The score was 1-1, the clock at 87 minutes, the tension suffocating. Maeda found his chance, lashed the ball beyond Alexander Schwolow, and the stadium erupted. That goal will live with Celtic supporters for a long time.
He signed off in fitting fashion too. In his final appearance for the club, Maeda opened the scoring in a comfortable Scottish Cup final win over Dunfermline Athletic, one last decisive contribution before the curtain fell on his time in Glasgow.
Celtic acknowledged exactly what they were losing. In a club statement, they highlighted his “relentless energy and vital goals” and the bond he had built with supporters over four and a half years.
Emotional farewell, new frontier
Maeda’s own goodbye carried the weight of that journey. Addressing the “Celtic family” on social media, he called his spell in Glasgow “the most special chapter” of his career and life, describing it as an honour to wear the badge and thanking fans for standing by him through highs and lows.
Those highs have taken him onto the global stage too. Maeda was part of Japan’s squad at the 2026 World Cup, helping his country reach the last 32 before a familiar giant, Brazil, ended their run.
Now comes a new challenge.
“I have always dreamed of playing in the Premier League and I am very happy I can realise that dream with this club,” he told Ipswich’s official channels. He spoke of how welcome the club had made him feel and set out a simple, uncompromising promise: to battle, to score, to assist, and to run himself into the ground for the team.
Ipswich’s intent under O’Neil
For Ipswich, back in the top flight after finishing second in the Championship under Kieran McKenna last season, this is a signing that speaks loudly about ambition and identity.
O’Neil, who took over in the summer after McKenna’s departure, has wasted no time reshaping his squad. Defender Issa Diop, winger Abdul Fatawu, striker Emersonn and goalkeeper Kayne van Oevelen have all arrived. Cedric Kipre and Chuba Akpom have turned successful loans into permanent stays.
Maeda is the headline act.
“He works extremely hard and has impressive physical attributes, while also proving over a number of years playing in Scotland that he has the ability to score goals and create for his team,” O’Neil said, convinced he will be “a valuable member” of the squad.
It is not hard to see why the Ipswich manager pushed for him. Maeda’s tireless pressing from the front, his willingness to chase lost causes, and his knack for decisive goals in tight games fit the profile of a side that will need every ounce of intensity to survive, and perhaps surprise, in the Premier League.
Ipswich have their promotion, their new manager, and now a World Cup forward forged in the pressure cooker of Celtic Park. The dream Maeda spoke about is finally in front of him.
What he does with it will help define whether Ipswich are just passing through this division, or planning to stay.
