Following the news that FC Tokyo defender Teruaki Moniwa was called up to the NT camp in preparation for the Confederations Cup, I woke up today to the news that Italy's (newly promoted) Serie A club Genoa are in final talks to welcome FC Tokyo defensive midfielder Yasuyuki Konno, age 22 (see entry I previously wrote on him). I'm not sure how concrete this information is, but it's strange to even think of FCTokyo without him... Tokyo have been doing poorly in recent months, but they have been one of my favorite teams. I had my eye on seeing four of the FC Tokyo players make big improvements during this year, and already three of them (Kaji, Konno, and Moniwa) are getting their breaks. Strangely enough, the one player who I thought had the biggest attention-grabbing quality is the last to be tapped on the shoulder -- Ishikawa. But I think it's just a matter of time. Ishikawa played so well in that pre-season friendly against Barcelona last week, but he is also a difficult player to incorporate into a team. The current FCTokyo greatly revolves around Ishikawa so he's been able to function there.
There is no doubt that Konno is ready and capable to transfer overseas now. He may have a hard time with the culture shock and the language issues, knowing his personality, but play-wise I believe he'll contribute well in Italy. He's a very hard worker. Again, though, this is all just sports-paper chatter so it is most probably best to wait and see.
In similar news, Kashima Antlers offensive midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, age 26, (currently with the NT, see previous entry I wrote on him) is reported to have gotten many offers in recent weeks from various European clubs -- in particular, sportspapers are saying that Italian Serie A club Lazio are going after him quite aggressively. But Kashima are reluctant because the club is currently built around Ogasawara's blossoming captaincy and have a better than good chance at grabbing the championships this season. Kashima had already lost their former captain and defensive midfielder Koji Nakata to France's Olympique Marseille this year. But the club also understands that they cannot stunt Ogasawara's career/growth by holding him back -- especially with the World Cup looming ahead in a year's time. Many in the J have noted that part of the reason why Ogasawara has had problems living up to expectations in the past few years (in his youth many called him the "next Hide Nakata") is because he has not been challenged enough in the J. He's had too cushy a position with his club, and hasn't been able to close the gap between his own abilities and those of his competition on the NT (like Nakamura and HNakata).
The shock of course to me, is that FCTokyo and Kashima Antlers are the two teams I am personally supporting -- and this talk of transfers leaves me with some mixed feelings. On one hand, I want to be able to watch these two closely from week to week, contributing to the J-club and getting them as close to the championships as possible. But on the other hand I cannot think of anything better for them than to send them off on the next great challenge. They will have the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the world in Italy, and that would be exciting to watch as well.
In other transfer news, Mallorca's Yoshito Okubo confirmed that he will be staying with the Spain club and has signed all the necessary documents. Atsushi Yanagisawa is also confirmed to stay with his current Serie club Messina. And as I said before, Daisuke Matsui has signed on for another few years with his French club Le Mans. (He is currently in Japan, and in last week's Purple Sanga game we caught a glimpse of him visiting with his former team!)
As for Shunsuke Nakamura, there is a question mark over his head about whether he will remain at Reggina -- he's apparently had numerous offers, the most interesting coming from a few Spanish clubs. I believe Reggina understands Nakamura wants to find new challenges at a different team, so they are making a good effort negotiating.
Shinji Ono just got out of the hospital today following his foot operation. He'll be spending the next couple months in Japan recuperating -- and he also has to decide what's going to happen with his future. There is talk that if he were to go it would be to Spain too, but I'm not sure whether anything truly concrete is happening.
Now the two who have something to worry about are Koji Nakata (Marseille) and Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich) -- there is little transfer talk, and their situation at their respective clubs is pretty bad. And I think the idea of them coming back to Japan is almost out of the question. Which means they are very stuck. I truly hope these two can get a break soon -- it's a matter of finding a club where they will be in a position to start frequently.
One of the biggest concerns for all the players going to or in foreign clubs is whether they will be able to get enough play time during the next season. They know that if they don't get to play in games, they will not be able to improve or maintain their skills and physical condition. This will also affect their performance on the National Team. Which would jeapordize their call-up and performance at the World Cup. And the players want to plan and spend this next year until Germany carefully and productively. There's a lot of gamble involved in these transfer talks, so I hope they do consider the choices thoroughly without rushing.
j-league soccer japan football transfers
There is no doubt that Konno is ready and capable to transfer overseas now. He may have a hard time with the culture shock and the language issues, knowing his personality, but play-wise I believe he'll contribute well in Italy. He's a very hard worker. Again, though, this is all just sports-paper chatter so it is most probably best to wait and see.
In similar news, Kashima Antlers offensive midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, age 26, (currently with the NT, see previous entry I wrote on him) is reported to have gotten many offers in recent weeks from various European clubs -- in particular, sportspapers are saying that Italian Serie A club Lazio are going after him quite aggressively. But Kashima are reluctant because the club is currently built around Ogasawara's blossoming captaincy and have a better than good chance at grabbing the championships this season. Kashima had already lost their former captain and defensive midfielder Koji Nakata to France's Olympique Marseille this year. But the club also understands that they cannot stunt Ogasawara's career/growth by holding him back -- especially with the World Cup looming ahead in a year's time. Many in the J have noted that part of the reason why Ogasawara has had problems living up to expectations in the past few years (in his youth many called him the "next Hide Nakata") is because he has not been challenged enough in the J. He's had too cushy a position with his club, and hasn't been able to close the gap between his own abilities and those of his competition on the NT (like Nakamura and HNakata).
The shock of course to me, is that FCTokyo and Kashima Antlers are the two teams I am personally supporting -- and this talk of transfers leaves me with some mixed feelings. On one hand, I want to be able to watch these two closely from week to week, contributing to the J-club and getting them as close to the championships as possible. But on the other hand I cannot think of anything better for them than to send them off on the next great challenge. They will have the opportunity to play against some of the best teams in the world in Italy, and that would be exciting to watch as well.
In other transfer news, Mallorca's Yoshito Okubo confirmed that he will be staying with the Spain club and has signed all the necessary documents. Atsushi Yanagisawa is also confirmed to stay with his current Serie club Messina. And as I said before, Daisuke Matsui has signed on for another few years with his French club Le Mans. (He is currently in Japan, and in last week's Purple Sanga game we caught a glimpse of him visiting with his former team!)
As for Shunsuke Nakamura, there is a question mark over his head about whether he will remain at Reggina -- he's apparently had numerous offers, the most interesting coming from a few Spanish clubs. I believe Reggina understands Nakamura wants to find new challenges at a different team, so they are making a good effort negotiating.
Shinji Ono just got out of the hospital today following his foot operation. He'll be spending the next couple months in Japan recuperating -- and he also has to decide what's going to happen with his future. There is talk that if he were to go it would be to Spain too, but I'm not sure whether anything truly concrete is happening.
Now the two who have something to worry about are Koji Nakata (Marseille) and Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich) -- there is little transfer talk, and their situation at their respective clubs is pretty bad. And I think the idea of them coming back to Japan is almost out of the question. Which means they are very stuck. I truly hope these two can get a break soon -- it's a matter of finding a club where they will be in a position to start frequently.
One of the biggest concerns for all the players going to or in foreign clubs is whether they will be able to get enough play time during the next season. They know that if they don't get to play in games, they will not be able to improve or maintain their skills and physical condition. This will also affect their performance on the National Team. Which would jeapordize their call-up and performance at the World Cup. And the players want to plan and spend this next year until Germany carefully and productively. There's a lot of gamble involved in these transfer talks, so I hope they do consider the choices thoroughly without rushing.
j-league soccer japan football transfers
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