Ange Postecoglou raided Yokohama F Marinos to see Celtic sign Daizen Maeda in a loan-to-buy transfer, and his former coach feels the forward will ‘terrorise’ defenders in Scotland.
John Hutchinson worked beside Postecoglou at the Nissan Stadium before the Australian moved to Glasgow last June. He oversaw a considerable rise in Maeda’s game during their time together, as well, before leaving to take charge of USLC side El Paso in December.
Hutchinson has now told The Scottish Sun what Celtic can expect with Maeda back under Postecoglou’s wing. The 24-year-old will spend the rest of the season at Parkhead on loan before making the move permanent for an already agreed £1.7m fee, per the Daily Record.
Hutchinson thinks Celtic gave Postecoglou a ‘frightening’ prospect in Maeda
Maeda joined Celtic in a triple transfer swoop by Postecoglou on the J1-League for Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate, too. The former Yokohama F Marinos forward ended 2021 as the Japanese top-flight’s joint top-scorer with Leandro Damiao on 23 goals.
The Osaka-native hit nine goals and offered two of his five assists for the term in 16 games under Postecoglou. His haul was also split evenly between central and left-wing outings.
Hutchinson saw a considerable rise in Maeda’s performances while Postecoglou’s assistant coach at Yokohama F Marinos. He had only scored three in 23 J1-League outings in 2020.
Now, the El Paso boss tips Maeda to flourish and run Premiership defences ragged after his transfer to Celtic. Hutchinson also expects his partnership with Kyogo Furuhashi will terrify defences after the forward’s £4.5m July move from Vissel Kobe.
“I have never seen a more physical player, in terms of speed and repeat sprinting, than Daizen,” Hutchinson said. “Daizen is a physical beast. You’d have no issues sending him anywhere in Europe because it won’t be a problem to him – he’s a machine.
“The improvement in him over the last season or so under Ange was incredible. He makes dangerous forward runs and scores goals. He will terrorise defenders in Scotland.
“If it clicks for him with Furuhashi upfront, which I think it will, it will be frightening for the other teams. He’s different to Furuhashi in that he’s more all-action and powerful.”
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