Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers has revealed that Bayern Munich’s dressing room was left in awe of Daizen Maeda’s incredible work rate during their Champions League encounters.

Maeda, who scored against Bayern in the first leg at Celtic Park, has been in sensational form, taking his tally to 25 goals for the season after his brace against Aberdeen on Tuesday night.

Speaking after that 5-1 victory, Carter-Vickers disclosed that Eric Dier, his former Spurs teammate and now a Bayern Munich player, lifted the lid on just how impressed the German giants were with Maeda’s relentless energy. [MailSport]

“We were just having a general chat about the two games and he said after the first leg they got the running stats put up in their changing room. Everyone was talking about how much high-speed distance he did.

“His work rate is incredible. He outworks defenders, is always on the move, is hard to pick up. He is a threat.

“I don’t know what is going on in his head, but he seems to be enjoying his football at the moment and is great to have around the training ground and stuff. He definitely seems happy to me, but I am not him.”

Brendan Rodgers admitted post-match that Maeda’s outstanding season will inevitably draw attention from clubs in the summer. He’s having his best personal season and is 9 goals away from Kyogo’s best season at Celtic.

He’s performing ion the European stage, too, with four goals in Europe’s elite competition.

He’s a very special player, and irreplaceable for Celtic. There’s simply not another player in world football like Maeda, and many will hope that he’s happy in Glasgow and not looking for a move elsewhere.

For now, though, Maeda remains focused on leading Celtic towards another domestic treble, but if his running stats are leaving elite clubs stunned, speculation about his future is only set to intensify, sadly for fans.