Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic celebrates his goal Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 September 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock
Q: Fans were chanting his name as well in Belgrade, that’s a big one for him?
Brendan Rodgers: “It’s a really big one that one. But again it’s his performance, it’s his endeavour. The Celtic support will love him come the end of the season. They’ll be won over by his humility, his hard work and his quality on the field because he’s a goal scorer. He will get goals, all different types of goals, and he’ll give everything. I’m really pleased for him, it was a wonderful finish. He could have maybe had another one, but he’s like that in every game, he looks like he’s always going to score.”
Q: What is it about him that he needs as a player to get the best performances out of him?
Brendan Rodgers: “When he was playing at Leicester he was playing a secondary role for a lot of the time to Jamie Vardy and obviously Jamie was an incredible player for Leicester. So that was always a challenge and if you play in a 4-3-3 then you’re never really playing with two strikers unless you’re changing in the game. What I did for a spell, I played a different system, of which he was playing up there with someone else, but any time he had to produce and come in, he was excellent. And it’s like with any player, you need to feel the trust of the coach or manager, you need to feel you’re part of an environment and really inclusive of everyone. Then your confidence grows from that. Strikers are confidence players so I can see that growing with him. He’s come here physically in a really good place, his body fat is one of the lowest in our squad, so he’s in a really good way physically. He’s just catching up on game time, and he can be a big asset for us.”
Sporting de Lisboa v Celtic FC – Pre-Season Friendly Daizen Maeda of Celtic FC is in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting de Lisboa and Celtic FC at Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, on July 16, 2025. Faro Portugal. Photo: DAX Images
Q: What’s the plan for the right flank between now and January? Is it just Yang and Forrest there for now?
Brendan Rodgers: “I think we have options. I think Daizen can play there, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I can use that as a possibility for sure. Where he’s played most of his career at Celtic has been on the left side or through the middle but naturally, on the sides is probably where he’s best. I wouldn’t rule that out. It was an area we wanted to reinforce, we weren’t able to do it and I have to try and manage and find a way to juggle the balance in the team to still make us as penetrative and as attacking as we possibly can so that’s what I’m looking at.”
