O'Neill admitted that Daizen Maeda nearly moved to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg over the summer. Brendan Rodgers suggested that Michel Ange Balikwisha had been signed because it was believed that Maeda would be leaving.

According to Martin O’Neill, Daizen Maeda believed he was transferring to Wolfsburg last summer. It was reported that the forward had cleaned out his locker at Lennoxtown and was preparing to move his family to Germany. Celtic did not approve the transfer because they had sold Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah in successive windows and needed Maeda to play as a centre forward, as the club was unable to source direct replacements.

According to the Daily Record, Daizen Maeda's high-value move to Wolfsburg was not completed on deadline day.

Wolfsburg could renew their interest in Celtic forward Daizen Maeda once the deal for Skov Olsen is finalized. Maeda wanted to leave Celtic in the summer, but the German club was unable to finalise a deal for the Japanese forward.