Celtic fans have been fortunate to witness some truly exceptional strikers over the years.
Henrik Larsson, famously known as the King of Kings, is widely regarded as Celtic’s greatest player of the modern era, having netted 242 goals in 315 appearances across seven seasons.
Since his departure to Barcelona in 2004, numerous Celtic strikers have been hailed as ‘the best since Larsson.’ But could this title now belong to a current member of the squad?
The player in question might just be their finest since Odsonne Édouard wore the green and white.
How good was Odsonne Édouard at Celtic?
Édouard, another recipient of the ‘best since Larsson’ label—bestowed upon him by former manager Martin O’Neill—certainly left a lasting impact at Parkhead.
The Frenchman arrived from Paris Saint-Germain, initially on loan in 2017, before his performances convinced the club to sign him permanently for a then-club-record fee of £9m.
In total, Édouard scored 87 goals in 179 appearances for the Hoops, averaging a goal every 140 minutes, before being sold to Crystal Palace for £14m in August 2021.
He was undoubtedly a phenomenal signing, winning the treble three times and earning the club’s Player of the Season award in 2019/20.
However, in terms of value for money, Édouard has arguably been surpassed by Celtic’s current leading marksman.
Celtic’s best signing since Odsonne Édouard:
Daizen Maeda joined Celtic from Yokohama F. Marinos for a reported £1.4m in January 2022, and he made an immediate impact, scoring less than four minutes into his debut against Hibs.
Since then, the Japanese forward has racked up 57 goals for the Hoops, with a staggering 28 of those coming this season.
This form has led former Hibs and Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart to claim that Maeda has “stepped up a level” in recent months.
Meanwhile, John McGinley of The Celtic Way has called him a ‘superstar,’ and right-back Alistair Johnston described him as “one of the most in-form players in Europe.”
Given Maeda’s prolific scoring, it raises the question: what’s the most goals a Celtic player has scored in a single season post-Larsson? Let’s take a look.
As the table shows, since Henrik Larsson’s 41-goal haul in 2003/04, only Leigh Griffiths has reached 40 goals in a single season for Celtic. Maeda now has up to ten more matches to equal this record, needing 12 goals—a feat that certainly isn’t out of reach.
Maeda has already secured one record, becoming the first Celtic player to score four times in a single European Cup or Champions League campaign since Joe Craig in 1977/78.
According to Transfermarkt, Maeda’s valuation is at its peak, currently estimated at around £9.2m.
Amid speculation about his future, Michael Gannon of the Daily Record has labeled the striker ‘priceless,’ while TEAMtalk suggests Celtic would only sell for a ‘sizable fee.’
With an initial cost of just £1.6m and now undeniably Celtic’s ‘best player,’ Maeda must also rank as one of the club’s best value-for-money signings in recent history.