Martin O’Neill has admitted he would be delighted if Daizen Maeda remained at Celtic for the final year of his contract, even if that meant the club receiving no transfer fee.
The Japanese forward enjoyed a sensational end to last season, scoring nine times across Celtic’s final seven matches to help secure the domestic double.
Although Maeda had been expected to leave for Wolfsburg last summer before staying put, speculation over his future has resurfaced with just 12 months remaining on his deal.
Rather than pushing for a sale, O’Neill revealed he would happily see the 28-year-old follow a similar path to Henrik Larsson by seeing out his contract at the Hoops before departing.
The Celtic boss told Daily Record: “I think there’s some resignation in that aspect. It isn’t one of those where he’s got a year left to run and we want to try and make something of it in the sense of getting money.
“It’s not that at all. Personally speaking, I would love it if he just let his contract run through. And played for the last year.
“Honestly, it would be super. I don’t know whether that’s in his mind or in his agent’s mind.
“If I throw back, not every comparison has been made, but Henrik Larsson told me a year before that that was going to be his last year.
“Now, his contract was out at that stage and he was fantastic for us in the final season. But he made it clear that that’s what he was going to do. He had his time.
“Now, the only difference between that is that he’s got a year left to run. That’s all. But it’s not one of us trying to make as much out of it in terms of finance.
“It’s me, personally. I’d love him to stay. I’m not sure that that’s going to happen.”
O’Neill also addressed the uncertainty surrounding Reo Hatate, who missed Celtic’s recent trip to Ireland due to illness. The manager acknowledged the midfielder could be considering a fresh challenge but insisted he would be happy to retain him should no move materialise.
The 74 year-old said: “I think that Reo has done exceptionally well at the football club since he arrived. People have said he might even have been the best player in Scotland two or three years ago.
“I think myself that he’s probably looking to maybe see if there’s new pastures for him.
“I’ll see how it goes with him here when he’s there. So, like everything else, during this particular time, it’s a bit unsettling for players, a wee bit like Maeda. So, you just don’t know.
“I’d love to keep him [Maeda] at the football club. He’s done brilliantly, and he’s got a year left to run. But I said to him, if he left the football club, I would be obviously disappointed, but he couldn’t have done any more for us.
“He really couldn’t have done any more.
“And Reo himself, let’s see what options might be around. But if nothing develops, I’d be very happy to keep him.”
Arne Engels is another player expected to attract interest after Celtic rejected several bids from Nottingham Forest in January. O’Neill admitted the timing of those offers made any deal impossible but suggested an approach this summer could change the situation.
O’Neill added: “If, for instance, all those bids that Nottingham Forest made come in on the 11th hour – that was just a non-goer for us at that particular stage.
“So if some things can happen a bit earlier, then maybe there’s some resignation on my part.
“That’s part and parcel. And while we consider ourselves a big club, in terms of finance now, people can earn much, much more money elsewhere.”
The Celtic boss also acknowledged that Benjamin Nygren’s impressive attacking numbers last campaign could attract attention.
He said: “His stats are very, very high, absolutely. So there’s every possibility that something could happen there.”
With Camilo Duran the club’s only major arrival so far this summer, O’Neill faces a potentially pivotal transfer window should several of his key players move on before the deadline.
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