Celtic transfer news: Club-record fee for Kasper Hogh agreed as Ipswich Town sign Daizen Maeda
Celtic have agreed a club-record fee of £11m plus add-ons to sign striker Kasper Hogh from Bodo/Glimt, while Daizen Maeda has completed his move to Ipswich Town in a £10m deal.
Hogh is keen to join the Scottish champions and arrives in the UK on Saturday evening with Celtic boss Martin O’Neil confirming after the 2-2 draw against AC Milan that Hogh is due to have a medical “in the next 24 hours”.
“Without going too deeply into it, that’s the calibre of player that we’d be looking for, who has scored goals in the Champions League,” O’Neil added.
“I’m hoping that players coming into the football club who are of some sort of substance, I think that would be the exciting thing for fans.
“For most of the time that I was here last season, we struggled to score goals. Maeda came up brilliantly for us in the last six or seven weeks of the season, but we didn’t have that recognised striker. So that would be a big plus for us if we can do that.”
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Martin O’Neill says Celtic have a few other things in the pipeline, on top of targets Kasper Hogh and Mika Baur.after waving goodbye to Daizen Maeda
Denmark international Hogh has been Celtic’s number one centre-forward target this summer and is set to sign a four-year contract, with Celtic holding the option to extend the deal by a further year.
They made an enquiry for him in the January transfer window but due to Bodo’s success in the Champions League he decided to stay on for that run – where he scored in their famous win over Atletico Madrid on their way to the last 16.
Hogh scored 53 goals in 102 appearances for Bodo/Glimt.
Maeda, meanwhile, exits Celtic. The Japan international was a key player for the Hoops since joining under Ange Postecoglou in 2022, but had never hidden his desire to play in the Premier League.
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Take a look at some of Daizen Maeda’s best goals for Celtic in the Scottish Premiership
Maeda scored 79 goals for Celtic and won five Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
He struggled for much of last season, but refound his form towards the end of the campaign with nine goals in the last seven matches of the season as the Hoops secured a league and cup double.
After the end of the season, Maeda reiterated his desire to play in England’s top tier.
“Naturally, I will miss him,” O’Neill said.
“He was in his last year of his contract. Before I came here, the club made him a real big offer, in our terms, at least 16 months ago. And the lad refused to do it in the sense that he wanted to play in the Premier League if he could, or the Bundesliga.
“So I will obviously miss him, but I’m delighted for him at the same time, genuinely delighted for him.
“He deserves the move because he’s been fantastic for the club. We will miss his presence around about the place and Ipswich will be getting somebody that they will grow to really like.”
Maeda joins the newly-promoted Tractor Boys on a three-year deal after scoring for Japan at this summer’s World Cup as they reached the last 32 before losing to Brazil.