Daizen Maeda Celtic impact hailed as 'one of the best in world' as Greg Taylor lifts lid on Japan ace

Daizen Maeda may have been dealt a brutal put down for his ability on the ball by one of his country’s most famous players.

But Celtic team-mate Greg Taylor insists when it comes to qualities OFF it, the Hoops have one of the best in the world. Maeda’s non-stop work rate and pressing has seen him dubbed the ‘Duracell Bunny’ at Parkhead. And even though Taylor reckons the Japan ace likes to recharge his batteries during the week, he says his energy on matchday is vital to powering Celtic’s charge into the business end of a frenetic title race.

Maeda was the only member of the Japanese contingent at Parkhead to get the call for international duty this week and played a full 90 minutes as the Samurai Blue defeated North Korea 1-0 in Thursday’s World Cup qualifier. But he was hardly given the warmest of welcomes home when former Japan hero Marcus Tanaka called for him to be dumped and branded him “terrible with the ball”.

Taylor, though, insists there’s no way he’d ever be under-valued among his colleagues in the east end of Glasgow. He said: “Not within this building, and certainly not by me. I’m Daizen’s biggest fan and I’ll never under-appreciate him as a player.

“He’s a breath of fresh air, he works ever so hard for the team and is always willing to do that bit more. His pressing, I think he’s genuinely one of the best at pressing in the world. I think his presses and his numbers are right up there. In training I actually think he recharges the battery through the week at times!

“There’s a couple of days out there where you think Daizen’s just getting ready for the weekend, and sure enough, when the weekend comes he normally doesn’t stop. That’s a good way to be, he knows his body.”

Earlier in the season Maeda was