Just when Celtic supporters thought this season couldn’t get any more miserable, the news all football fans fear during an international break filtered through to Parkhead.
According to widespread reports, striker Daizen Maeda has withdrawn from the Japan squad due to ‘tightness in his left foot’; the seriousness of the issue is not yet known.
Maeda didn’t actually feature as the Samurai Blue drew 2-2 with Paraguay in Suita on Friday, returning home prior to Tuesday’s clash with five-times world champions Brazil in Tokyo.
Once the international break is over, Celtic will travel to Dens Park to face Dundee on Sunday, before crucial clashes with Sturm Graz in the Europa League and then current Premiership leaders Hearts at Tynecastle the following weekend.
With Maeda potentially set to miss these important games and more thereafter, who should Brendan Rodgers choose to deputise during his absence?
Daizen Maeda's importance to Celtic
It is worth reiterating just how important a figure Maeda is to Celtic, despite his dip in form this season.
As the table below documents, not many players have scored more Celtic goals across Rodgers’ two spells in charge than the Japanese international.
Scott Sinclair
148
60
Moussa Dembélé
94
51
James Forrest
221
46
Daizen Maeda
100
46
Callum McGregor
261
37
Leigh Griffiths
96
37
Kyōgo Furuhashi
82
31
Adam Idah
76
29
Odsonne Édouard
68
27
Tom Rogic
105
24
Nicolas Kühn
69
24
As the table outlines, should Maeda score 15 more goals this season, he would become Rodgers’ leading scorer as Celtic manager, having currently played 148 fewer matches than the current leader, Scott Sinclair.
His stoppage time winner against Motherwell last time out was only his third of the season so far, but he did bag 33 during the previous campaign, four of which came in the Champions League, the first player to reach that many for the club in a single European Cup campaign since Joe Craig all the way back in 1977/78.
Maeda has also previously netted four times against Rangers too, converting the winning spot-kick in December’s League Cup Final, so Rodgers will be desperate for his star attacker to be available for the next Glasgow derby between the two at Hampden on 2 November.
For now, who is best suited to fill his void in the forward line?
The Celtic star who should replace Maeda
Considering Kyōgo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kühn and Adam Idah have all been sold throughout 2025, reinforcing the attacking department was a priority for Celtic this summer.
Chalkboard
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Supporters would argue this happened too late, with an entirely new front three arriving in the final hours of the window, after they’d been eliminated from Champions League qualifying by Kairat.
Sebastian Tounekti and Kelechi Iheanacho have both got off the mark in hoops, establishing themselves as part of the first-choice front three alongside Maeda, but we’re yet to see much from Michel-Ange Balikwisha, so is this now his time to shine?
The Scottish champions had attempted to sign a winger 12 months earlier, only for him to suffer an injury, belatedly joining from Royal Antwerp for around £5m in late August.
Upon his arrival, manager Rodgers labelled him a “really talented, exciting player” noting that he “can play both sides of the pitch”, while Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout asserts that “pace, dribbling and finishing” are his primary attributes.
The Belgian was thrown in for his debut during the dire Old Firm at Ibrox at the end of August, making six appearances for the club so far, four of which have come off the bench.
Balikwisha made his most telling contribution for the Celts to date during that aforementioned comeback 3-2 home win over Motherwell last time out, teeing up Maeda to nod in the last-gasp winner with an inch-perfect cross.
Unlike many of his teammates, Balikwisha has not been on international duty, yet to receive his first senior Belgian call-up, so has spent the last fortnight at Lennoxtown working with Rodgers and getting up to speed, which can only be beneficial.
Assuming Tounekti and Iheanacho keep their places at Dens on Sunday, Rodgers’ attacking alternatives are Yang Hyun-jun, James Forrest or youngsters Johnny Kenny, Shin Yamada or Callum Osmand; the latter is yet to even make his senior debut for the club.
Thus, starting Balikwisha appears to be a no-brainer, giving him the clash with Dundee as an opportunity to stake a claim, with huge games against Sturm Graz, Hearts, Rangers and Midtjylland all on the horizon in the coming weeks.
