Daizen Maeda (前田 大然, Maeda Daizen; born 20 October 1997) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a left winger or forward for Premier League club Ipswich Town and the Japan national team.
Maeda began his career with Matsumoto Yamaga before spells with Mito HollyHock, Marítimo and Yokohama F. Marinos, where he finished as the J1 League top scorer in 2021. Since joining Celtic in 2022, Maeda has won multiple domestic honours and established himself as one of the club's key attacking players. He has represented Japan internationally since 2019, featuring at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 2023 AFC Asian Cup and 2026 World Cup.
In 2016, Maeda joined Matsumoto Yamaga. He got his J-League debut on 28 February 2016. It was on 28 August 2016, that he scored his first goal as a professional in an Emperor's Cup game against Tokuyama University.
After his loan spell at Mito, he struggled for regular playing time and was loaned to the Portuguese club, Maritimo in 2019. He left the club in 2021 after his loan with Yokohama F. Marinos was made permanent.
Maeda joined Mito HollyHock on a loan deal from February 2017 until January 2018. He ended the season while scoring 13 goals.
On 11 August 2019, he made his debut in the opening round of Portuguese League against Sporting CP when he came on as a substitute in the 57th minute.
On 25 August 2019, Maeda scored his debut goal in a 3–2 loss to Tondela.
In August 2020, he was loaned to Yokohama F. Marinos. He scored his first goal after the transfer in the match against Shimizu S-Pulse on 19 August, and contributed to the team's first victory in three games.
By the end of the season, the deal was made permanent. On 7 March 2021, he scored a brace against Sanfrecce Hiroshima and continued his prolific run of form on 17 March, scoring four goals in one game against Tokushima Vortis. On 25 September 2021, with a goal against Yokohama FC, Maeda became the top scorer in the J1 League. On 6 November against FC Tokyo, he scored his second hat-trick of the season to keep his spot in the top scorers' ranking. In addition to being named in the J.League Best XI at the end of the season, Maeda was also co-J.League Top Scorer with Leandro Damiao of Kawasaki Frontale, who had equalled his total of 23 goals for the campaign.
On 31 December 2021, it was announced that Maeda had signed for Scottish Premiership club Celtic on loan for the rest of the season, with an obligation to buy at the end of the loan. On 17 January 2022, Maeda made his debut for Celtic and scored his first goal in the fourth minute, in a league fixture against Hibernian at Celtic Park. Maeda signed a four-year contract with Celtic at the end of the season, when his move was made permanent.
On 6 September 2022, Maeda came on as a half-time substitute for Liel Abada to make his UEFA Champions League debut in a 3–0 home defeat against Real Madrid. On 2 January 2023, he scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw at Rangers. His form at this time saw Premier League side Southampton monitor him.
On 6 July 2023, Maeda signed a new four-year contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2027.
Maeda had his most prolific season during 2024–25, scoring over 30 goals, with his form particularly picking up from January. He scored his first Champions League goal against Slovan Bratislava, and scored a further three against Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge and Bayern Munich. This put him level with Shinji Kagawa and Takumi Minamino for most goals by a Japanese player in the Champions League. It also made him the first player to score four goals for Celtic in UEFA competition since Joe Craig in the 1977–78 season.
Upon scoring against Kilmarnock on 12 April 2025, he became the first Celtic player to score in eight consecutive starts at Parkhead since Henrik Larsson in 2004. Celtic fans also began singing Maeda's name to the tune of "Tequila" by the Champs.
Maeda was named as one of four nominees for the 2024–25 PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year, alongside teammates Callum McGregor and Nicolas Kühn, and Dundee striker Simon Murray.
In August 2025, it was reported that Maeda wanted to leave Celtic but could not as the club did not have time to buy a backup. This led to poor form in the months of September and October, with Maeda only scoring two goals.
In the closing stages of the 2025–26 season, Maeda scored in five consecutive league matches, including a stunning overhead against Rangers and the decisive second goal in the 87th minute of a 3–1 victory over Hearts on 16 May 2026, the final matchday, helping secure his club's record 56th league title. He also scored the opening goal in the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline the following week, lobbing goalkeeper Aston Oxborough from the edge of the penalty box.
On 25 July 2026, Daizen signed for Premier League side Ipswich Town.