Japan can keep the Sakai brothers as long as we get to keep this guy: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF1erQxy2OM"]YouTube - Cyril Takayama - Mobile Phone[/ame] Imagine the ball, magically popping up in the back of the net!
He'll fit right in! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TwrYiygySc"]YouTube - May 23, 2010: Herculez Gomez Card Trick[/ame]
Incidentally, Transfermarkt lists Sakai as having Japanese and German citizenship, but not US. Might always be in error, of course.
17 Matches thus far, over 1500 minutes, and an assist: http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/gotoku-sakai/leistungsdaten/spieler_103310.html Transfermarkt rates him at a transfer value of 875K British pounds.
Yes, I know. I just hope that he does. Sometimes I wish all the dual nationals chose to talk to each other before making these decisions. Imagine our roster if they did.. .............................Howard............................ Chandler.........Subotic.........hangeland.....Sakai ...............................Jones.............................. Donovan...................Dempsey............Johnson.. ...................Altidore..............Rossi.................. Obviously they aren't all the same age or even in touch, but it would be pretty cool.
A 'Yank' Abroad in Japan?!?!?! How the the hell did I miss following this guy in Japan?!?! #marinoscoloredglasses
Here are a couple of quotes out of Stuttgart on him: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...sich-sakai-unter-den-baum.html#omsearchresult From Spotdirektor Fredi Bobic: Sakai is a player with a lot of potential and is equally strong with his left and right foot. I have rarely seen a player of his age who is so advanced in his development as a right and left back. We will give him the necessary time to 'arrive' in the Bundesliga. I am certain that he can become a valuable player for VfB. Fellow Japanese and Stuttgart player Shinji Okazaki: Gotuku and I already know each other very well. Despite his German mother, he is a typical Japanese. Gotuku is ambidextrous, can run all day and often moves forward as a defensive player into the offense.
Well if nothing else, him being in Germany should get him on Klinsy's radar. We all know that Jurgen can be quite the convincing salesman.
I get the impression the Japanese players have by-in-large done well in Germany. So it makes sense for the German clubs to keep looking for more talent in Japan.
The user Maximum Optimal(?) has bee name dropping this guy for a while...looks like he was on to something. Welp...another LB lost
Word of mouth in conjunction with that scouting perhaps. But keep in mind, a team like Urawa Reds have one of those cute lil "partnerships" with VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich. There's been several Germans like Volker Finke and Gert Engles managing in Japan. One of the most famous foreign players let alone Germans to play in J-League was Guido Buchwald. So all it takes is a phone call/email to and fro to make connections happen. Success of Kagawa and Okazaki makes BL moves enticing for a up and coming Japanese player, which based on latest AFC/WC results, seem to be a good number of them.
So he is actually eligible for Germany as well.....seems JK just might have a chance to convince him!