2019/23 Wataru Endo | 2021- Hiroki Ito | 2022- Anrie Chase @ VfB Stuttgart (GER)

Also captain yesterday.

 

Yes. Contender to JPA of the year? What do you think?

 

Stuttgart ioaned Hiroki Ito from Jubilo Iwata.

 

Exactly , is seen as a prospect player. Is there a Chance he make it?

 

Official translation of Mislintat's statement:
“Hiroki has the technique and the physique to make the move into the first-team squad in the medium term," said sporting director Sven Mislintat. “First of all, he will join the U21s and gradually get used to European football. We’re convinced, though, that Hiroki has the right mentality to settle in very quickly and we are really looking forward to working with him.”
https://www.vfb.de/en/vfb/latest/news/professionals/2021/transfer-hiroki-ito-kopie/

 

While that may look like the club isn't willing to commit to the player it's also an advantage for the player (here Ito) if it turns out that he can't adapt as everybody expected and he wants to go back again. Reduced risk for both sides.

 

I'm sure Ito is in the plan of Stuttgart's senior team. According to Kicker, they regard him as a future replacement for their starting CB Kempf. Keep in mind that their sporting director Mislintat is great at unearthing talents. I would say he is a raw talent with great physical ability and an exceptional left foot that has very accurate passes. His potential was highly rated by experts in Japan and since switching to CB from DMF, he has finally started to shine.

 

Itoh from what I have seen seems to have pretty passing range and he seems to have quite a bit of pace despite his build. However, feel that he may not be very agile overall, especially when it comes to changing directions and turning. He is decently fast when running in straight lines.

 

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5b48f7d2ceb1b0ecd37846da8f370cea5cb36468

Ito has been making a strong impression in pre-season. Hopefully we'll see him in the first team sooner than expected.

 

According to the local press it looks like VfB may let its chief CB Marc Oliver Kempf who wants to go leave and would want to replace him with a player already at the club. Choices: Clinton Mola (who missed most of last season through injury) und Hiroki Ito.

 

Ito trained with the first team so far and will join the first team's training camp (17th-21st in Kitzbühel). Only after that they'll decide whether he'll stay with the first or join the second team.

 

Pellegrino Matarazzo has named Endo the club captain for the coming season.

Der #VfB Cheftrainer Pellegrino #Matarazzo hat bekanntgegeben, dass @wataru0209 neuer #VfB-Kapitän ist.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Wataru! #VfB | #VfBinKitzbühel pic.twitter.com/daQtPAgj92

— VfB Stuttgart (@VfB) July 23, 2021

 

Oh interesting, I thought he was being sold before due to finances of the club. Good to see he's staying.

 

Ito started in the cup today and played well.

 

Another CB talent? Yoshida, Tomiyasu, Itakura and now Ito. I miss the days when Japan had to rely on Konno and young Yoshida.

 

Ito made his debut today and was very good. Many fans want him to start the next match.

 

Ito has become a starting member of Stuttgarts starting eleven and has exceeded all expectations from the beginning of the season.

Hopefully Moriyasu is watching.

Japan has never had so many good CB in its history.

Tomiyasu, Itakura, and Ito should be leading the back line for years to come.