Player Watch · Jul 25, 2026
It's official: King Daizen is a Premier League player
IT'S OFFICIAL. Daizen Maeda is a Premier League player. 🔥 Ipswich Town confirmed the move today: £10m from Celtic (£8m plus £2m in add-ons), a deal that runs through the 2028/29 season. Four and a half years terrorizing defenders at Celtic. 79 goals. 212 appearances. Five straight league titles. And now? The Premier League he has dreamed about his whole career. "I have always dreamed of playing in the Premier League and I am very happy I can realise that dream with this club," Maeda said. Same relentless pressing, same fearless running, same total chaos every time he wears the Samurai Blue, now on the biggest stage in club football. The other half of the rumored Ipswich double didn't come together, though. Free agent Hidemasa Morita, who Ipswich had also been chasing for weeks, instead signed with fellow newly-promoted Hull City on a two year deal with an option for a third, with reports pointing to an issue in his Ipswich medical along the way. Two Samurai Blue names, two new Premier League homes, just not the pairing a lot of us were picturing. Welcome to England, Daizen. Ipswich, you have no idea what you just signed. Good luck at Hull, Morita-san. 🔵🌊🇯🇵⚽️