Not-so-famous Japanese Players Abroad \ Japanese players in minor leagues

Nikki Havenaar seems to be doing pretty well with FC Wil 1900. He's a starter and they are currently 2nd in the Swiss Challenge League. Would be nice to see him in the Super League next season.

 

Koya Matsuura is also a starter for FC Jumilla in the Spanish 3rd division



He's only 20 so he maybe a player to keep an eye on in the future.

 

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20181119-00297761-footballc-socc

Cy Goddard made his pro debut.

 

邦本、第37節ホーム最終水原三星戦で89分勝利を決めた決勝点でシーズン5点目！！！チームはこの2-1勝利で初準優勝確定でACLグループラウンド進出！ pic.twitter.com/DretodZn1X

— 高陽博多の男 (@NiwakaMags_J) November 25, 2018

Takahiro Kunimoto scored an 89th minute winner for Gyeongnam FC, his 5th of the season, to clinch 2nd place in the league as well as a group league berth in next year's ACL.

 

Shiotani scored a goal in the Club World Cup.

0:45

 

Naoto Sawai (Ajaccio) scored his first goal in Ligue 2.

 

His goal

2:30

 

Japan youth international goalkeeper Leo Brian Kokubo joins Benfica from the Reysol academy after impressing against the Portuguese giants at the Al Kass youth tournament.

✍ Bem-vindo, Leo Kokubo.

ℹ https://t.co/fODoDisAwU#FormarAGanhar pic.twitter.com/1HeybThSDM

— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) January 25, 2019

 

I'm still shocked that he landed there. Especially knowing his salary - is that so much more compared to what he could earn in a mid-table EPL club? Even more after knowing that you could have bought him out of Portimonense to an average English club and easily make him a new player of the season in FIFA...

 

How much he make ?

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtgQPhX...tm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=11d9lohgqdo4p

 

The problem with Nakajima's move to Qatar or any other player moving to a minor league such as Chinese Super League just for money, is that they will entertain money in the short-term but will end up losing their market-value in the long-term.

The problem with clubs in China and Qatar, is that they don't have long-term orientation when dealing with their foregin players, due to the huge cash-flow they have they are willing to pay huge amounts for transfer fees and salaries without thinking about the risks of whether or not the players they bought will succeed or not.

Unlike European clubs, when they pay huge amount in a player they regard it as an investment and will not risk paying much for a player and then sell him cheaply.
On the contrary, clubs in Qatar in China don't bother if they pay much money for a player and then sell him cheapliy if an immediate impact on the pitch was not approached or the player in question get injured or lose his form for few weeks.

Jackson Martinez, for example, was the target of top European clubs and we all know the Ateltico Madrid vs AC Milan fume about him, but after few months in Madrid he decided to go to China and everything went south for him (his injury played a part in this issue, but it is not the only reason behind him being out-of-favour).

Oscar is another example, even though he is still viewed as the star in his Chinese club, he will not get big interest from top European clubs now in the same level he got when he was playing at Chelsea.

Well, there are few exceptions of players going to minor leagues and not losing their market-value and still managed to get interest from top European clubs, such as: Paulinho and Axel Witsel. But both of them are exceptions and not the rule by any chance.

Hence, if Nakajima is going for money, then he is much delusional, as he will get huge chunck of money in the space of 1-2 years, and then nobody will care about him, and he might end up playing for a lower team than Portimonense in Europe or return to Japan before he turns 27!

Playing in top clubs and competitions does not only mean prestige (as Nakajima assumed when he said that he wants to live a calm life without enduring the challenges of playing in a top competition), playing in top competitions means: exposure, improving the player's skillset, increasing his market-value, and experience.

All what I hope for right now, is that the PSG move this summer is real or that he has plans to not stay more than 1 year in Qatar, or I am afraid that even clubs like Wolves, Leicester and others (who are reportedly were interested in him) will not pay a single pound to get him, let alone clubs bigger than them.

 

As a fan, I want to witness players compete at the highest level. However, I also understand that a professional athletes run the risk of having their career ended any day due to injury. I can empathize that some of them will take the pile of cash in front of them instead of trying to look at the long term. They're humans after all.

As for Nakajima, I think the majority of us agree it's a strange move. If he truly decided to go to Qatar because he's prioritizing having fun playing soccer over money and prestige, good for him. It takes a lot of guts to make a decision like that, knowing you'll be criticized in some way by most people. However, in reality I think there's always more to it than the stated reasons in public. It's probably not black or white, but somewhere in grey. Either way, what's done is done, so as a fan all I can do now is hope that he continues to play well so that he'll have a chance at joining a higher level of competition in the future. Best of luck to him.

 

The funny thing is when we talk money its not like he should have earned peanuts at Wolves for instance to this argument is well, it can be discussed.

And he had his chance now, doubt he gets it again.

 

I think he thought about first team playing time as well.

 

So he goes to Qatar?

 

Well, it's not all bad is it? As others have mentioned it doesn't necessarily have to be the end of the world to play in Qatar//UAE/China. He's still very young, and rather than comparing him to established stars like Jackson Martinez or Paulinho a more reasonable comparison would be Manuel Lanzini.

He went from Argentina to UAE and then directly to West Ham where he easily became their best player within months after arrival. He was even younger than Nakajima. There are or have been dozens of other players that have had spells in these leagues that made the step to top European leagues too.

And if all that fails, I'm all for a more even spread of talent between the continents and having a player like Nakajima in a different Asian country can only be a good thing for Asian football=)

 

yeah, his first team position is nearly 100% guaranteed there?

I'ts reasonable for him to look at Kagawa, Haraguchi, Osako, Usami...' first team's playing time and took some serious considerations.

 

There is more places the would get first team action. And I rather see him fight for a spot in Bundesliga or PL than rot in the desert.

 

I wouldn't say he is rotting.

He is playing under Rui Faria, who's coached some of the best players in the world and I'm sure he can take Nakajima to the next level. 1-2 seasons there and he might be off to PSG afterwards. Who knows.

There are also other quality players in the team like Benatia and Nam Tae Hee and he will overall probably be surrounded by better players than he were at Portimonense.

 

@Dax I know you said you refused to create a thread for him because he's playing in Qatar but am I allowed to create one?

 

Not for a long time.

OFFICIAL: #AlSadd sign Nam Tae-hee on a three-year deal starting from the 2019-20 season pic.twitter.com/W7c576BmY7

— 🏆 #77 Al Sadd SC | نادي السد (@AlsaddSC) February 8, 2019

But Lucas Mendes was a pretty decent CB when he played for Marseille (2012-14).