Rodgers could land big Maeda upgrade in Celtic swoop for £5m talent

Celtic will head into 2025 at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, just as they did in 2024, after a comfortable 4-0 victory over Motherwell on Boxing Day.

The Hoops would, of course, have gone into next year at the top of the division irrespective of their result on Thursday, though, because they have built a healthy lead at the top of the division.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side are a whopping 12 points clear of Rangers in second place and appear to be on course for a fourth straight title in the league.

Goals from Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn, and Reo Hatate secured all three points for the Hoops at Parkhead, whilst Kasper Schmeichel did not have a single save to make between the sticks.

It was a dominant performance and a deserved victory for Celtic, who remain unbeaten in the Premiership after 17 matches, and Rodgers will surely be delighted with how his team is performing.

However, the January transfer window is around the corner and the Northern Irishman is reportedly in the market to add a left-winger to the group, which could put Maeda’s place in danger.

Daizen Maeda’s performances this season

The Japan international scored his third goal of the season in the Premiership against Motherwell on Thursday, heading in from point-blank range into an empty net in the second half.

It was far from an effective performance from the winger, however, as he had missed two ‘big chances’ prior to that and lost four of his five ground duels, which shows that the forward was wasteful in front of goal and weak in battles with opposition players.

Being wasteful at the top end of the pitch has, unfortunately, become a theme for Maeda in the Premiership, as he has missed nine ‘big chances’ – scoring three times – in 14 starts in the division.

This shows that the 27-year-old attacker has let his teammates down by failing to make the most of the high-quality chances that they have created for him consistently in the top-flight.

Maeda, who has assisted three goals in his 14 league starts, also failed to provide consistent quality at the top end of the pitch in the Premiership in the 2023/24 campaign for the Scottish giants.

As you can see in the table above, the Japanese forward missed twice as many ‘big chances’ as he managed goals scored, and rarely offered much in the way of creativity, with one chance created every other game on average.

This means that Maeda has scored nine goals and missed 21 ‘big chances’ in the Premiership since the start of last season, whilst failing to create much in that time, and that is why there is the potential for the Hoops to land an upgrade in his position.

Rodgers could find that upgrade by swooping for one of the club’s reported transfer targets when the January transfer window opens for business next month.

Celtic’s interest in £5m forward

Earlier this month, Norwegian sports outlet Nettavisen reported that Celtic are one of the teams interested in a swoop for Sarpsborg forward Sondre Orjasaeter.

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As mentioned earlier, Rodgers wants to bring in another left-sided attacker to come in and compete for a starting spot in the team in the second half of the campaign, to improve the depth of his options in that area of the pitch.

The Sarpsborg dynamo is a right-footed left winger, like Maeda, and would, therefore, fit the bill in terms of what the manager is looking for in the market next month.

It was not reported how much the Norwegian side would want for the 21-year-old star, though, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Hoops are prepared to make an official offer for his services.

The Norway U21 international is currently valued at £5m by Transfermarkt and that, perhaps, could provide an insight into the kind of fee that Sarpsborg would demand for his signature.

Rodgers must, however, push for the board to secure a deal to sign the exciting young talent in January, because he could come in as a big upgrade on Maeda.

Why Orjasaeter could be an upgrade on Maeda

Orjasaeter’s form in the 2024 Eliteserien season for his club suggests that the potential is there for him to come in and offer more than the current Hoops man at the top end of the pitch.

The 21-year-old gem spent the 2023 season in the second tier with Sogndal and produced six goals and four assists in 30 appearances, along with a staggering 6.4 completed dribbles per game.

That impressive form earned him a move to Sarpsborg in the January transfer window at the start of this year, and he hit the ground running in the Norwegian top-flight.

In 2024, Orjasaeter racked up five goals, five assists, and 12 ‘big chances’ created in 28 league appearances in his debut season with the club, which shows that he is a productive winger who can make the difference in the final third as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

As you can see in the table above, the Norway U21 international has the potential to offer more than Maeda as an attacking force, with more ‘big chances’ created, more assists, and a better ratio of goals to ‘big chances’ missed.

Orjasaeter, despite his inexperience, also offers plenty to the team out of possession, with 4.2 ball recoveries per game – compared to Maeda’s 2.9 per match last term and 1.9 per game this season.

This suggests that the exciting youngster puts the hard work in off the ball to help his team out defensively, which means that he could slot in perfectly on the left flank for Celtic – as he is a well-rounded attacker who provides quality on both sides of the game.

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Therefore, Rodgers should push for the club to sign the £5m-rated star in January, who has the potential to be a big upgrade on Maeda if he can translate his performances over to Scottish football.