Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money.
Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One.
Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or that player is a good player,” Endo said. “It feels like there is more interest in Japanese players from around the world.”
Currently also in England’s top flight are Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal) and Yukinari Sugawara (Southampton).
Japanese players have had mixed success in the Premier League since Junichi Inamoto became the first when he joined Arsenal in 2001. Inamoto left for Fulham after a single season where he failed to make a league appearance for the Gunners.
Shinji Kagawa won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2012-2013, but drifted to the margins after a bright start and returned to Borussia Dortmund after an up-and-down two years.
FIFA-registered agent Joel Pannick, who has 50 Japanese players on his books, says English clubs previously had “a bit of a fear of Japanese players.”
“The stereotypical approach would be that the player would be technically very good, but would they be physical enough? Would they be strong enough?” Pannick said. “Previously maybe Japanese players were pigeonholed — they go to Germany or Holland [Netherlands], where it’s more technical.”
Pannick says the recent success of Japanese players at British clubs, especially at Celtic under former J.League and now Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou, has helped change perceptions.
He also says the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way clubs scout players, making video footage and data from around the world more readily available.
“Teams wouldn’t want to spend the time and money taking a risk going to a place far away when they don’t know what they’re going to see when they get there,” he said. “Now that everything is available to watch hours or minutes after the match, it has removed any fear of ‘should the Japanese market be one that we look at?’”
Relatively cheap transfer fees have made Japanese players a canny investment, with Pannick calling them “more attractively valued than the equivalent player from anywhere else in the world.”
Brighton paid just ￡2.5 million (US$3.3 million) to sign the winger Mitoma from the J.League in 2021, while prolific goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi joined Celtic for ￡4.5 million the same year.
Furuhashi was heavily linked with Manchester City this summer.
The prices mean that in recent transfer windows it has mostly been Championship clubs entering the market for Japanese players.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu says players are willing to play in the second tier and work their way up.
“The J.League is a very good league, but the players want to play at the highest level,” Moriyasu said. “The Premier League is where the best players in the world are and they want to be there, too. I think a lot of players have moved to the Championship with a view to making the step up.”
Pannick says post-Brexit changes to work permit rules have forced English clubs to look beyond Europe for signings and be “more open-minded and creative.”
Japan’s performances at the World Cup, which included wins over Germany and Spain in Qatar in 2022, have put their players firmly in the shop window.
Pannick says they have the mentality to make the most of the opportunity.
“With the players I’ve worked with, if something hasn’t gone right, if they’ve been taken out of the team or if they’re asked to play in a position that’s not their favorite, the default response is: ‘What can I do better?’” he said. “The players identify themselves as ambassadors of Japan and they want to give a good account of themselves.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS