Daizen Maeda has made no secret of his desire to leave Celtic this summer, with the speedster's heart set on landing a big move to the Premier League. But for now, the 28-year-old's full focus is on trying to shine for Japan at the World Cup, and the Hoops hero reckons he can get the better of Real Madrid-bound Denzel Dumfries when they face the Netherlands in their Group F opener on Sunday.
Maeda, who represented his country at the finals in Qatar four years ago, could come face to face with the Inter Milan star if he is deployed on the left by Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu, with Dumfries set to line up at right-wing back for the Dutch. Maeda believes his pace could be too much for his counterpart, who is expected to seal a £17 million switch to the Bernabeu this summer.
Speaking to Japanese media, Maeda said: "If I go into the aerial duel in a normal way, I won't win. So I will try out various tactics. I can try to get in front of him or let another player take the aerial duel while I cut inside. I don't know if I will play as a wingback or not, that is up to Hajime Moriyasu. But there are many players who can play as a shadow striker and have goal scoring ability, so I hope I can play in that role. I think I can stop him with my speed."
Celtic missed out on the chance to sign Frosinone forward Fares Ghedjemis back in January, with the Parkhead giants reportedly unwilling to meet the £6.8 million price tag set by the Serie B club. Frosinone have since won promotion back to Italy's top tier, but the future of Ghedjemis, who is in the Algeria squad for the World Cup, very much remains up in the air.
The club's Renzo Castagnini insists they will only be brought to the table for the right offer. Speaking to Sport Mediaset, he said: "It's not a given that he'll leave. We'll evaluate the approaches and see if we get an offer that satisfies us. It depends entirely on the market."
