Ipswich Town Signs Daizen Maeda: A Statement Forward
Ipswich Town have landed their statement forward. Daizen Maeda, the relentless runner who became a cult hero at Celtic, has signed a three-year deal at Portman Road in a move worth a reported £10m.
For a club fresh back in the Premier League, this is a signing that screams intent.
From Glasgow icon to Ipswich spearhead
At Celtic, Maeda built a career on volume: of work, of goals, of medals. Seventy-nine goals in 212 appearances. Five league titles. Three Scottish Cups. Two League Cups. A blur of green-and-white movement that rarely stopped.
He arrived in Glasgow in late December 2022, a relatively low-key J-League attacker switching from Yokohama F Marinos in the early days of the Ange Postecoglou rebuild. Initially on loan, he quickly did enough to make the move permanent. The fee felt small; the return, enormous.
Celtic fans learned quickly what Japanese football already knew. Maeda presses like a man chasing down a lost cause in the 90th minute, even when it’s the 10th. His pace and energy turned matches, seasons, atmospheres. He became the forward who never gave defenders a moment’s peace.
The 2025-26 campaign elevated him from popular to pivotal.
With Celtic unable to adequately replace Kyogo Furuhashi through the middle, the responsibility fell on Maeda. He shouldered it almost all season. At first, it looked like the gamble might backfire. One goal in 18 games, a striker searching for rhythm, and Celtic sitting second, staring up at Hearts.
Then the season flipped.
The turning point
What followed was a run that will live with Celtic supporters for years. Maeda exploded back into form, scoring seven goals in five Premiership matches, two of them decisive winners. The timing could not have been sharper.
Celtic chased Hearts down. The league tightened. Nerves frayed. And on the final day, in a title decider at Celtic Park, Maeda delivered the moment that will follow him wherever he goes.
With the score locked at 1-1 and 87 minutes on the clock, he found the space, found the finish, and drilled the ball beyond Alexander Schwolow. The stadium erupted. The goal didn’t just win a match; it secured a championship and sealed his place in club folklore.
He signed off in fitting style. In his final game for Celtic, the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline Athletic, Maeda opened the scoring in a comfortable victory, adding one last goal to a catalogue of big-game contributions.
No wonder his farewell message to the “Celtic family” spoke of the last four and a half years as the most special chapter of his career and his life. The club, for their part, called his energy and vital goals “an essential part of the team” and acknowledged a firm fans’ favourite heading for “pastures new” at Ipswich Town.
A World Cup forward for a rising club
Maeda does not arrive in Suffolk as a project. He comes as a fully formed international forward, fresh from the 2026 World Cup, where he helped Japan reach the last 32 before elimination by Brazil.
“I have always dreamed of playing in the Premier League and I am very happy I can realise that dream with this club,” he told Ipswich’s website. The words were simple, but the intent was clear. This is the league he has been running towards.
He spoke of feeling welcome, of loving the conversations with the club. Then he outlined a mission statement that will sit well with supporters at Portman Road: battle hard, score goals, provide assists, and run. Always run. Always give everything.
Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil, who stepped in this summer after Kieran McKenna’s departure, knows exactly what he is getting.
“He works extremely hard and has impressive physical attributes, while also proving over a number of years playing in Scotland that he has the ability to score goals and create for his team,” O’Neil said. He expects Maeda to be “a valuable member” of a squad that has just fought its way back into the top flight by finishing second in the Championship under McKenna last season.
Building a Premier League squad
Ipswich have not stopped at Maeda. He is part of a deliberate, layered rebuild aimed at giving O’Neil the depth and quality to survive – and more – in the Premier League.
Defender Issa Diop has arrived to add experience at the back. Abdul Fatawu brings directness and flair out wide. Emersonn offers another option up front, and goalkeeper Kayne van Oevelen strengthens competition between the posts.
Cedric Kipre and Chuba Akpom, both influential on loan last season, have been tied down permanently, rewarding their impact in the promotion campaign and preserving the spine of a side that knows how to win together.
Into that framework steps Maeda: a runner, a presser, a finisher, a forward who has already proved he can carry the weight of expectation at a club where trophies are demanded, not hoped for.
He leaves behind banners, medals and memories in Glasgow. He walks into a new world in Suffolk, one where survival is the first battle and ambition runs just beneath the surface.
The Premier League has seen plenty of stars arrive with big reputations and bigger fees. Ipswich’s new number is different. He comes with scars, with titles, with a World Cup on his CV – and with a promise to run until there is nothing left.
For a promoted club facing the most unforgiving division in football, that might be exactly where the story needs to start.
