The club lists him as a Japanese-American '97 midfielder with their U19s: http://www.tsv1860.de/teams/u19/spieler/2015-2016/justin-kinjo-303/lebenslauf Transfermarkt lists his full name as "JUSTIN TOSHIKI KINJO." http://www.transfermarkt.com/justin-toshiki-kinjo/profil/spieler/353100 No birthplace listed, but based on a few links he seems to have joined the club this year after some seasons in Japan.
Apparently Justin is the younger brother of Christopher Tatsuki Kinjo. They're from Okinawa - Kinjo is a very common surname there. He recently tweeted about playing 90 minutes in an official Regionalliga match with 1860 II: 1860Ⅱ（U21）の公式戦に初招集！！ボランチでフル出場＼(^o^)／4-0勝利！！ pic.twitter.com/uncIIzuO68— 金城ジャスティン俊樹 Justin Kinjo (@justin_kinjo) October 10, 2015 http://quatre-a.com/キャトル・エーニュース/サッカーで有名な金城３兄弟、来院！
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...vgg-unterhaching-38_1860-muenchen-ii-123.html Huerzeler also went 90. FYI Kicker also has him as USA/Japan eligibility. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...enchen-ii-123/90255/spieler_justin-kinjo.html
According to Japanese tabloids, multiple BL1 clubs are scouting Justin and 1860 has plans to integrate him into the first team. Also, a "USA U21 coach" has scouted him in person several times. http://www.hochi.co.jp/soccer/world/20151205-OHT1T50200.html
I dont think this is something special. 1860 U19 is outplaying everybody else and all of Bulis scouts are reglarly scouting the U17 and U19 Bulis.
Sure, could be. But U.S. Soccer has said Herzog (and also Hamann) have scouted Europe-based players for the program. “Most of the time because we live in Europe we are scouting all the European-based players for the U.S. MNT and the youth teams, and for our Olympic team as well.” Herzog said. “It’s also critical that we see as many of the players based here as possible. When there’s a game in the U.S., we always try to come a little bit early to watch as many games as we can.” http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2015/04/20/09/36/150420-u23mnt-scouting-sidebar
I imagine so, yeah. Kinjo also reportedly signed with agent Ludwig Kögl, who manages Thomas Müller among others. Anyway, could be an interesting pickup for the U20s.
#F95 verpflichtet japanisches Talent Justin Toshiki #Kinjo - 18-Jähriger kommt vom @TSV1860: https://t.co/sIheP0GUFO pic.twitter.com/ojWeyYFTdI— Fortuna Düsseldorf (@f95) January 30, 2016 http://www.f95.de/aktuell/news/prof...shiki-kinjo/bb3acaf003300e7d19fb5e6baaaac924/ Justin Kinjo leaves 1860 to sign a 2.5 year pro contract with Fortuna Düsseldorf. The club notes that he has dual Japanese-American citizenship and that his brother Christopher played for the Fortuna U19s several seasons ago. Thread title change + move to YA? @bungadiri
Pro contract in the sense that he's a first team player or just a pro contract and he'll play with youth teams for now?
Well, whether he actually receives playing time remains to be seen, but the article was posted under "Profis" on the club website, and it would seem odd to leave 1860 for more reserve action. The contract is through June 2018.
Justin Kinjo starts in the #8 role for Düsseldorf II in Regionalliga West— Nats Abroad (@Nats_Abroad) February 27, 2016
http://www.f95.de/aktuell/news/prof...m-pillersee/3ab8b6a8a51dc200a4598ef0a876b44d/ Came on in the second half and scored a brace for the first team in a friendly against FC Lorient on Saturday. Also picked up what seems to be a rather serious knee injury in the 80th minute.
http://www.rp-online.de/sport/fussb...-und-justin-kinjo-drehen-runden-bid-1.6172827 Here's a report from a few days ago saying that Kinjo couldn't participate in training, but was able to run laps. So it would seem his injury isn't devastatingly long-term.
Apparently he's a friend of Tsubasa Endoh: 翼さん、誕生日おめでとうございます翼さんの活躍でいつも刺激もらってます！負けずに俺も頑張ります！色んな人の想いも背負って、お互い頑張りましょう！！！@tsubasa_endoh pic.twitter.com/WpfT51UYGa— 金城ジャスティン俊樹 Justin Kinjo (@justin_kinjo) August 20, 2016 Hanging out with Takumi Minamino, Masaya Okugawa (RB Salzburg), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke), Yuji Ono (Sint-Truiden), Eiji Kawashima (Metz). IIRC Düsseldorf is a popular meetup spot for Japanese players in Europe. 先輩方からいろんな話を聞き、刺激をもらい、モチベーション上がりました！！トレーニングにも復帰したし、また一から頑張ります💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/jbs3LYrock— 金城ジャスティン俊樹 Justin Kinjo (@justin_kinjo) September 13, 2016
Oh yeah, forgot about that connection. That's one of several residential academies run by the Japanese FA - the Fukushima campus relocated across the country after the 2011 earthquake, the training facilities being appropriated for use by the armed forces and other aid/cleanup personnel.
He made his debut today at the 90th today in a 3-1 win. @bungadiri @Friedel'sAccent he needs a promotion.