Maeda: Happy to Fulfil Premier League Dream With Town
Saturday, 25th Jul 2026 15:22

New Blues signing Daizen Maeda is delighted to be fulfilling his Premier League dream by joining Town.

The 28-year-old Japanese international has penned a three-year deal at Portman Road following a four-and-a-half-year spell at Celtic, the clubs having agreed an initial £8 million fee plus add-ons of a further £2 million.

“My dream was to play in the Premier League and I am very happy that I can realise that dream with this club,” he told TownTV through an interpreter.

“They were very enthusiastic when they reached out to me, so that was the main reason for choosing this club.

“Ever since I signed for Celtic, I’ve always been able to watch Premier League games. That got me motivated to play in this league.”

Maeda is the first Japanese player to sign for the Blues, but he says that doesn’t particularly concern him.

“It’s not something I’ve thought about too much, to be honest,” the 30-times-capped attacker insisted. “I’ll just focus on my game and try to give my all for the team. Hopefully I can deliver good performances for all the people watching from Japan.”

Maeda, who has scored five international goals, admits he doesn’t know too much about Town.

“Not much to be honest,” he added. “Which is why I’m keen to know more about this club and do my best for them.”

Quizzed on what fans can expect of him, he continued: “My aim will always be to battle hard, score goals and provide assists for my team. I would like everyone to watch these moments.”

Born in Taishi, Osaka, Maeda played for Japan at the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, appearing in three games at each and netting once at each tournament.

“It was my second time representing Japan at the World Cup, so I got to enjoy the occasion more this time,” he reflected on this summer’s finals.

“Although we couldn’t achieve the team’s objective [of progressing beyond the round of 16], I was still able to get plenty of game time which led me to sign for a brilliant team like Ipswich. So I think it went well!”

Maeda hopes Japanese supporters will now adopt Town: “I’m playing for Ipswich now, so it would mean a lot if they could support me!”

Regarding Blues fans, he added: “I will always run and give everything I have for the team and the supporters, so I appreciate all of your support.”

Photo: ITFC.co.uk

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Bazza8564 added 15:45 - Jul 25 I think if here was ever a player that Town fans would instantly take to their hearts, it's is this guy. Let's hope his integration with the squad is smooth, our guys are a very friendly bunch and the Japanese culture lends itself to that too. Welcome!
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Brogan55 added 15:57 - Jul 25 A good addition to our squad.Welcome to Ipswich.Just prove that so called expert from carrot road wrong.
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victorysquad added 16:04 - Jul 25 Seems like we have new candidate for tequila song, if we copy celtic
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Magic8 added 16:32 - Jul 25 A word of caution....Opta ratings put EPL number 1 league..Scottish Premiership 42nd ...while I hope Maeda can step up that gulf in class might be difficult.
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ThaiBlue added 16:41 - Jul 25 Love this guy already and he's not kicked a ball yet,think he's gonna be a big player for us cannot wait to see him terrorize alot of defences this season.
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Monkey_Blue added 17:43 - Jul 25

Magic8… don’t waste your breath. Being realistic isn’t allowed. I think he might be a really good signing but his number of goals and assists in a lower level league than the championship playing for a dominant side are not a sign he will repeat that with us. He will get significantly less chances and be playing against much better opponents. I like this signing but the happy clappys have him in for the Balon D’or already as with all of our signings. If we sign 10 players and three turn out to be great signings we’ve done well as long as a chunk of the rest are decent signings.

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JewellintheTown added 17:43 - Jul 25 Magic8, both Celtic & Rangers are roughly equivalent of lower Premiership standard. Some of the SPL are championship standard & some are L1 approximately. So being ex-Celtic he's probably of a much higher standard than you've read.
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Theipswich added 17:44 - Jul 25 He was a class act at Celtic...and I'm sure he can do the biz at Town...our best pre-season signing imo
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armchaircritic59 added 18:01 - Jul 25

Magic8, spot on, the exact statistics I've used in here myself. That of course doesn't mean that individual players from lower rated leagues don't have the ability to play at the exalted level of the PL. Many won't for sure, but some do. This is something we are going to find out with Daizen. Personally as I've mentioned before, I'm a big fan of Japanese football, so I'm willing him to succeed and I'd love 1 or 2 others here such as Keito Nakamura. Anyway, welcome to England, the PL and most importantly of all ITFC, Daizen. Don't worry too much about the language, do your talking on the pitch and the very best of luck.

Monkey_Blue added 19:19 - Jul 25

Jewellinthetown…. Your logic is nonsense. If you play for a far better team in a poor league your stats don’t hold the same value in a higher level league. I like this signing but I’m realistic enough to know whilst he may be a sucess there is hardly any chance he will get anywhere close to his Celtic figures. How many good chances do you think a side with better players in every position creates vs a side without that? O’neils record doesn’t suggest he is going to have us bombing forward all the time… he’s a park the bus and hit on the break kind of boss so we will be creating less chances and have to be clinical. It’s not rocket science. At PR vocally back the team for the whole game, but on here it’s ok to be honest and rational.

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muhrensleftfoot added 19:24 - Jul 25 I've read a lot of Celtic fans comments. Apart from the few sour grapes, looks like we've bagged ourselves a great player on the cheap.
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foreverchurchmans added 19:52 - Jul 25

Interesting debate about the relative merits of the EPL / Championship versus the SPL. I'm lucky enough to be a season ticket holder at both Portman Road and Pittodrie ... and to my mind there's no doubt that the Championship is stronger than the SPL. Remember last pre-season Town won comfortably at Pittodrie. But having said that there are PLENTY of individuals that successfully make the transition south. I've seen the likes of Ryan Christie, Lewis Ferguson, James Maddison, Scott McKenna all appear in an Aberdeen shirt then go onto great(er) things in England / Europe. And nearer to home what about Sone Aluko, Wes Burns, Greg Leigh etc. In other words Maeda definitely has the potential !

Murphys_Law added 20:11 - Jul 25 My immediate reaction was that as he had an interpreter was that he was fluent broad Scottish and town tv needed a bit of help!
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dirtydingusmagee added 22:16 - Jul 25 Welcome aboard , hope you have a great time with Town . COYB
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Dissboyitfc added 08:43 - Jul 26 Plenty of examples of players joining clubs in tougher leagues and doing well, and also plenty even more i would say of players not cutting it at a higher level! Shall we just wait and see, i for one know very little about this player as i expect is the case with most on here! Welcome Daizen!
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flykickingbybgunn added 09:11 - Jul 26 Through an interpreter ? But he has been in Glasgow for 3 years ... On the other hand I have known many Scotsmen struggle with english too.
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TubbyToast added 13:39 - Jul 26 Like you flykicking - english should have a capital E. Lol....
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flykickingbybgunn added 14:24 - Jul 26 The English people I would agree with. But the english language I dont know. I open it up to minds far greater than mine to educate me.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 11:22 - Jul 29 He plays for Japan, they are consistent World Cup qualifiers and always play with a dynamic attacking high energy style. Everything I have read about him emphasises his energy , ability and positive attitude
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