Celtic star does a David Beckham as Ligue 1 ace gets bizarre with personal request sent to Hoops man

Daizen Maeda has gone from bald to David Beckham - and it has resulted in a bizarre quip from the Celtic star's Japanese teammate.

The Parkhead forward has raised eyebrows within the fanbase amid a decision taken to start growing out his hair. Form has been good of late too, scoring a hat-trick against Livingston in the Scottish Cup and a goal in the 7-1 thrashing of Dundee.

Now he is with his national team and photos in team training have shown the winger sporting a new blonde look akin to England legend Beckham's iconic blonde buzzcut circa 2007. And it is all for a special reason.

He told Gekisaka: "My eldest child is about to turn five years old, so I'm starting to say, `I don't like having a shaved head.' I don't want my daughter to hate me, so I wanted to change my daughter's hairstyle. I thought I should listen to what she was saying, so I started growing it out. It's still early for headbands."

The player in Japan Maeda's daughter refereed to is Monaco's Takumi Minamino, who sports long hair with a headband. Responding to Maeda's new look, the 29-year-old Ligue 1 star hinted at a proposal coming the way of the Celtic winger if the hair continues to grow.

He joked: "It's an honour. I'm looking forward to it being longer than me. When it's about that long, I'll ask him to marry me. I'll give you a headband as a present!"

Japan will take on North Korea twice during this international break, once on Thursday and again next Tuesday. Maeda then returns to Glasgow in preparation for a Celtic clash with Livingston away from home.