Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers may look to use the upcoming summer transfer window to ensure that his squad can compete domestically and in Europe next season.
The Hoops boss won a domestic double in his first year back at Parkhead this term, having replaced Ange Postecoglou in the dugout last summer.
Rodgers secured the Scottish Premiership title last month before going on to win the SFA Cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park, thanks to a late strike from Adam Idah.
However, the Bhoys were knocked out of Europe during the first half of the 2023/24 campaign as they finished rock bottom of their Champions League group.
They also failed to win the League Cup as they were beaten 1-0 by Kilmarnock back in August and this suggests that there is scope for the Scottish giants to improve next season.
Rodgers may now dip into the market to add fresh faces to his squad to help his team to compete for more trophies, and one former player is reportedly being eyed by the Northern Irish coach.
Celtic's interest in reunion with Scotland international
According to Football Insider, Celtic are eyeing up a reunion with former academy graduate and first-team star Kieran Tierney this summer.
The report claims that the Scotland international is not a part of Mikel Arteta's plans at Arsenal and looks set to move on from The Emirates before the end of the window.
It states that the experienced left-back would 'love' to move back to Parkhead and is desperate to rejoin his former club following a loan spell with Real Sociedad in Spain.
The outlet reveals that both parties, Celtic and Tierney, are keen on making it work but it is a difficult deal for the Scottish side to get done this year.
Football Insider claims that the Premiership champions are unlikely to afford the fee that the Gunners would want for him, and his 'huge' wages could make a loan deal complicated.
Arsenal signed the defender from the Hoops for a fee of £25m in 2019 and it remains to be seen how much the Premier League giants would demand for his services five years on from that transfer.
If the Hoops can manage to iron out a deal with the Gunners, possibly with the help of Tierney's reported desire to make the deal happen, then Rodgers could land a left-back who would be perfect for Daizen Maeda down the left flank.
Daizen Maeda's contrasting fortunes for Celtic
The Japan international is an interesting forward as he does a lot of excellent work out of possession but often leaves a lot to be desired on the ball.
Rodgers once described having him in the team as like having 'two players' due to his immense work rate, as the effervescent attacker works his socks off for the team to either win the ball back or close down opposition players.
This was on show less than a minute into the Old Firm clash at Ibrox in April as he sprinted to close down James Tavernier, who seemingly thought he would have more time to clear the ball, and deflected the full-back's clearance past Jack Butland and into the back of the net.
However, his work on the ball was not quite as impressive over the course of the campaign. Only Kyogo Furuhashi (-4.39) underperformed his xG by more than Maeda (-2.78) in the Premiership, as the winger scored six goals from 8.78 xG.
Assists
3
8th
Big chances created
5
9th
Key passes per game
0.5
20th
Dribbles completed per game
1.1
5th
As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old whiz also struggled when it came to creating chances for his teammates on a regular basis, as he ranked outside of the top five in the three key creative metrics in the Premiership.
These statistics suggest that Maeda does not offer a consistent or big attacking threat as either a scorer or a creator of goals from the left flank.
However, he does, in Rodgers' eyes at least, offer vital running for the team in and out of possession to either win the ball back or cause problems for opposition defenders.
Why Kieran Tierney would be perfect for Daizen Maeda
Tierney would be the partner for the Japanese dynamo down the left flank as he has the attacking mentality and ability to brilliantly complement him.
Whilst Maeda does not have the ability to carry the burden of the attack on the left side on his own, as shown by his aforementioned struggles as a finisher and as a creator, he does work hard and chip in with contributions at times.
The 26-year-old winger could use his movement and pace to drag the opposition's full-back infield or out of position in order to create space for Tierney to then bomb on from a left-back position to use his crossing as another weapon in Celtic's armoury.
During his time in the first-team with the Hoops, the now-Arsenal defender racked up eight goals and 37 assists in 170 matches in all competitions.
That is an average of one assist every 4.59 games, compared to Maeda's return of one every 6.69 outings with 16 in 107 clashes in all competitions.
This shows that the £10m-rated whiz, who was once lauded as a "warrior" by Ashley Cole, has the potential to provide assists far more regularly than the current Celtic attacker.
2015/16
23
1
6
2016/17
24
1
8
2017/18
28
3
6
2018/19
20
0
5
As you can see in the table above, Tierney racked up at least five league assists in four straight Premiership seasons with the Hoops, which speaks to his impressive creativity from left-back.
Whereas, Maeda has not managed more than five league assists in a single season with Celtic and produced four assists in all competitions this term.
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Therefore, Tierney would be perfect for the winger as his partner down the left wing as he has the creativity and quality to provide a big threat in the final third, which would take some of the pressure off the forward – who has struggled in that respect.