Daizen Maeda leaving Celtic is the silliest transfer talk yet and I wouldn't sell him for £75million
Some people call the transfer window the silly season with all the rumours and speculation flying around.
But any talk of Daizen Maeda being sold by Celtic might be the silliest suggestion of the lot.
It would be absolutely ridiculous to even entertain any notion of letting the attacker go right now.
I don't care what anyone says about the Celtic model or the prospect of a big money bid. Maeda simply cannot be allowed to depart right now. For any money.
Even if it's crazy cash – £75m wouldn't cut it. Honestly.
That might sound like I've lost my marbles but I'm serious. Celtic wouldn't be losing just one player. Maeda's versatility would mean they would be saying goodbye to at least two – and that's at a time when they are already down to the bare bones in the front areas.
There are some who say he's 27-year-old, he has two years left on his deal and this might be the time to cash in. That would be fine if there were two replacements already lined up.
But, given Celtic still haven't replaced Kyogo or Nicolas Kuhn, I'd doubt it would be the case with Maeda.
I didn't think Kyogo would go in January. I didn't' expect them not to sign another striker.
Likewise in the summer, I felt Kuhn was worth keeping for another year, or at least there would be cover in the door first. I've been proved wrong both times and I could be again with this one.
But selling Maeda in this window would be just about the final straw. What would Brendan Rodgers be left with?
He already needs wide men and a striker. The board would be taking the legs out from under him.
There's also suggestions he might want to go and it's difficult to keep a player who is determined to leave.
Why should it be? Maeda has two years left on his contract – a contract he was happy to sign – and you have a duty to your employers.
It's up to the clubs to decide when someone is sold. I get the stuff about unhappy players making like difficult and you can see it with Alexander Isak at Newcastle.
But refusing to play is a breach of contract. You either get on with your work or you get your wages docked until you see sense.
There's absolutely no suggestion it would get to that stage with Maeda or if he even is agitating for a move at this point in time.
He is a guy who always gives his heart and soul and I doubt that would change regardless.
He's also the most important player in the squad right now so he needs to stay. If there are options in 12 months then so be it, that could be the time to deal. But not now.
Celtic are already gambling with the Champions League with their failure to land attacking targets in this window.
Maeda going and they'd be folding altogether. And at some stage you have to say enough is enough. Rodgers has watched top talents head out of the door and his squad has got weaker.
The manager batted away the Maeda question at his press conference before the Falkirk game but saying he was as confident as he could be that he'd still be at the club beyond the window wasn't exactly emphatic.
Rodgers is having to tread carefully right now but he just be seriously hacked off at the moment.
Forget about the nonsense about him not wearing a club tie, he had one hand tied behind his back.
He also knows there's a duty to provide the best possible team for the supporters who stump up their hard-earned cash on season tickets, merchandise and everything else.
They can't be expected to keep digging deep for an inferior product.
There's no point in repeating myself about the dithering in the market this summer but it has cranked up the pressure ahead of Wednesday's Champions League play-off with FC Kairat.
On paper Celtic should be strong enough regardless to take care of the Kazakhstan side over two legs. But it's not a given.
Anything can happen in these ties. Slovan Bratislava had a man sent off over there in the last round, lost the game and it cost them.
Celtic took a 5-0 lead to Astana a few years back and at one stage in the away game it looked like everything was going to pot.
I remember meeting Rodgers in the stadium after that game and looked absolutely shattered.
He's been put through the mill that night and would give everything for a stress free trip this time.
Wednesday is vital. The pressure is on for Celtic to take a lead – preferably a commanding one – out to Almaty as we know going out there is demanding for a number of reasons.
That means having a cutting edge where it matters, and that's been the concern in the league games so far.
Celtic got off to a good start with wins against St Mirren and Aberdeen but none of the front three scored in either game.
They are getting by right now but until reinforcements arrive, they are just getting by and that could come back to bite them. Kairat are a defensive team and they will come to Celtic Park and sit in.
They could be difficult to break down and that's where the lack of options in the final third starts to worry me.
Listen, Celtic could just as easily go out and stick five past them, you never know, but everyone would be a lot more relaxed going in if the likes of Kyogo, Jota and Kuhn were there
At least Maeda is someone Celts can hang their hand on – and it has to stay that way no matter what.
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