Official 2021 J. League Transfers and Rumors

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/21f8d530a2897d96fede6905effa3405887e0c68

Mitoma to Brighton. First year loan to Royale Union Saint-Gilloise because he can not get a work-permit.

 

Done deal

3 mil euros

 

Why?

Let's be realistic.

Mitoma did not have 2 years of professional football under his belt, he cannot get a UK work permit, nor he can get a full preseason training with his new club due to his involvement in the Olympis.

So moving directly to England is counter-productive now.

Union Saint-Gilloise is not a bad team, they totally dominated the Belgian second division last season, and recent history saw newly-promoted clubs performing very well in Belgium's top division and finishing in European playoffs places or midtable.

Brighton is not bad either, they developed/honed very good players:
Belgian International Trossard, England's CB Ben White, Australia's GK Ryan, their new signing Enock Mwepu from RB Salzburg, and Argentina's Olympic team midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.

They are really building a team around young and skillful players.

At this point it is not just about his qualities/potentials. It is about getting to a safe environment which will enable him to adapt (at least culturally).

Ao Tanaka mentioned the mentioned reasons when he was asked about his decision to join a second division club in Germany.

 

I'm convinced as well he could have had a better side to play for in Belgium.

Good deal for Frontale, 3M is a start.

 

Wider question about this matter: don't you COVID hamper some moves this last year?

 

Anderlecht and PSV Eindhoven are both reportedly interested in Japanese versatile attacker Kyogo Furuhashi.

Anderlecht are desperately looking for a reliable replacement for the outgoing Nmecha and they believe Furuhashi will be the one.

https://t.co/vDvON3s5FO

 

Definitely.

 

@Dax inui and Osako went to 2. Bundesliga clubs.

The only examples of Japanese players who joined clubs in top 4 leagues and had immediate success are Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Kagawa, Yuto Nagatomo, and Atsuto Yoshida. This is four in 23 years, while many others struggled and went back to Japan straight away.

Players like Hasebe and Okazaki spent at least half season to adapt to the Bundesliga.

While, recent examples of players such as Tomiyasu and Endo in Belgium who are now ranked among top performers in Italy and Germany respectively, and Kamada who was loaned out from Frankfurt to STVV are all examples of how it is safe for Japanese players not to go straight from the J.League to one of the top 4 leagues.

Endo was older than Mitoma, already won ACL and represented Japan in the 2016 Olympics, was member of Japan's 2018 World Cup squad, and have multiple years of experience in the J.League, yet he did not choose to go straight to Germany, and opted to join a struggling Belgian league side and then joined a 2. Bundesliga team.

Compare Endo with Mitoma who is 1 year younger than Endo when he went to Belgium, with no international caps, does not have continental experience like the one Endo had, and only turned pro 18 months ago.

Add to this the shrinking economic situation worldwide. Is there a better option for Mitoma?

 

Mitoma still did not prove himself to be a consistent perfomer who can play in different systems and environments even in the J.League.

When Kiyotake went to Germany he already played for two different clubs in Japan for more than 4 years.

Mitoma had only 1.5 seasons of playing experience in Japan under one team, a team with a robust system which will allow any player to maximise his productivity.

If Mitoma played for Oita for example, would he be able to have such a huge number of goals and assists? I don't think so.

Mitoma in his first season was mainly used as a second half substitution, and whenever he started his numbers were not as impressive compared to when he came in as a sub. Something which poses a serious question about his stamina or ability to take down opponents with fresh legs.

In a recent interview with Takashi Fukunushi he praised the young Japanese talents and their contributions in the 2020 season, however, he noted that the most important thing for these young talented players is to keep on performing on the same level for more than one season. Not just performing very well in one season and then start to stagnate.

Speaking from my perspective, watching football for more than 25 years, many young talents impressed in their debut seasons but did not live up to their potentials and early expectations.

Kiyotake as well as having more professional experience than Mitoma when he moved to Germany in 2012 had more experience playing in continental competitions, something which Mitoma just explored in the past two weeks.

Bearing all of this in mind we will be daydreaming to expect a club from the top 4 leagues to come and sign Mitoma straight from Japan to play for them instantly, especially with the fact that he will not be able to join the team until the season is already started because of the Olympics. This is counter-productive for both the player and the club.

Hence, going to Belgium to adapt in a safer environment is the best option for him, especially with the club having the potential to secure a respectable midtable finish.

As for fears of Brighton being relegated, well, Eintracht were not far away from relegation in the 2019/2020 season when Kamada returned to Frankfurt from his loan spell in Belgium. If Mitoma will manage to have an outstanding first season in Belgium, many clubs in bigger leagues will try to sign him from Brighton.

Many players were bought by English clubs and were loaned out to clubs in smaller leagues, they performed well and then got offers from clubs in Germany, Spain, and Italy, and then they tranafered there without even setting a foot on the English soil.

I see it as win-win situation for both Mitoma and Brighton.

 

https://www.ladepeche.fr/amp/2021/0...ional-japonais-va-sengager-au-tfc-9677945.php

Onaiwu to Toulouse.

 

Thats cheap.

 

Kenta Hasegawa's FC Tokyo got hammered 8-0 against Yokohama FM. I'm not sure if he's a good candidate for JNT manager.

 

He's not, but luckily he's probably heading towards a return to S-Pulse.

 

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto to Oostende.

 

Yuma Suzuki is rumored to be returning to Kashima Antlers. Mitsuki Saito, etc. are also rumored to be returning as well.

 

Yuma Suzuki is so childish