Daizen Maeda in transfer hint amid Brentford swirl as Celtic face £6m price drop with three deals required

Daily Record

4 days ago

The Hoops' hero is attracting interest from across Europe this summer
Brentford are reportedly among the clubs chasing Daizen Maeda this summer - but the striker has hinted his focus is on Celtic.
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The 27-year-old was the standout performer for the Scottish Premiership champions last season netting 33 goals as Brendan Rodgers' claimed a domestic double.
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That has seen the likes of Tottenham, Fenerbahce and West Ham touted with a move for the forward - and reports in Japan suggest The Bees' have joined the race.
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Reports in Turkey stating Jose Mourinho's men were told stump up £21million for the star by Celtic - and that valuation is unlikely to have moved since.
But Maeda has already hinted this summer that he is in no rush to leave - and he has now talked up his Parkhead teammates in the latest clue he is focussed on life in Glasgow's east end.
The forward told KICK OFF! KANSAI: "There is one year left until the North-Central America World Cup: I want to make connections with Japanese national team players special.
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"Like at Celtic, there were many scenes where I thought my teammate was coming but my timing with the passer was in sync. After three and a half years, my teammates understand me."
In terms of incoming players, Red Star Belgrade defender Veljko Milosavljevic is also said to be on the agenda - with Mozzart Sport claiming that the Serbian side are ready to drop their asking price.
It was claimed earlier this summer that Celtic representatives "offered" £5.1million for the 17-year-old, which was rejected.
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It is now stated that while Red Star hope to receive €10million (£8.6million) for the player they could sell for €7million (£6million) with interest from earlier in the window cooling.
And while a new centre-back appears to be on the agenda, Gordon Strachan insists that a winger, striker and another midfielder are required by Rodgers this summer.
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He told OLBG: 'Celtic have had wide attackers rather than wingers. People can score goals, get in the box, make goals, rather than just a winger who can cross the ball and things like that. So I think that's where they'll be going.
'Do they need another striker? Yes I think they do. They'll be looking at that as well. They'll be looking at a midfield player similar to Reo Hatate who can eliminate people in midfield.
'In the modern game, because the defenders are good, when people get back into zonal areas or go man for man, the fact is that you need somebody to eliminate people.
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'Hatate could do that and so could Matt O'Riley. Matt O'Riley has been gone a year but they still need somebody who can do that as well.'
The comments come with the Hoops' on the lookout for a successor to Nicolas Kuhn - who has admitted he would love to play against his former club Celtic next week and introduce himself to Como in style.
The German winger completed a £17million move to the big-spending Serie A side last week and will be an important part of Cesc Fabregas' team.
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One of his first matches could even be against the former club in pre-season as the Parkhead side prepare to jet into Italy for the Como Cup tournament.
Celtic face Ajax and Como entertain Al Ahli and there's a chance Kuhn could face his old teammates in either the final or the third and fourth place play-off.
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And he would relish coming up against his former colleagues, having also played for Ajax too. He said: "I'll definitely play against one of my former teams because we will play either Celtic or Ajax.
"If we could play against Celtic, I would be really excited to face all my teammates from last season.
"I can't wait to play in the tournament. My beginnings at Como have gone really well. I like the Italian atmosphere and the team is fantastic, everyone is helping me settle in and I'm really happy to be here.
"The training centre is fantastic, the quality is high, and so far everything has been perfect. I think we have a lot of very good players in the squad."
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