After Marinos’ return to the top and another promotion/relegation playoffs we didn’t like (but the format is still there, despite many complaints), J1 League is ready to start for its 2020 season with new faces, some changes and most of all a new title on the line. Before the start of this year, we wanted though to give a look to how clubs managed their business during the last Winter transfer market.
You can’t imagine how many deals we had to leave out. From the obvious ones we’ve probably already talked about (Leonardo to Urawa Red Diamonds, but we have already mentioned his incredible season in J2) to the ones we’ll talk about (JLR won’t back down from a piece about Douglas), passing through several signings we felt to leave out of this pretty full Top 10.
From Ryuho Kikuchi ready to conquer Kobe to Kengo Kitazuma fighting for his space in Reysol’s starting eleven; from Daiki Miya’s tale of redemption in Saga to Jun Ichimori’s finally achieving a J1 spot; from Kota Mizunuma coming back to his youngster days in Yokohama to many, many other stories. But these are the ten we’ve selected and we’ll stand by them. Let’s roll!
10. Hiromu Mitsumaru – from Sagan Tosu to Kashiwa Reysol
Last year, Sagan Tosu somehow found a way to redeem themselves, despite Fernando Torres and a goodbye that sucked out most of the attention. J2 was looming, but Kim Myung-hwi turned around the ship – again! – and now the club can enjoy another season of J1 football, despite the future doesn’t look promising at all, given all the problems with sponsors happened in the pre-season.
One of the key-elements to bring the ship at home – meaning, avoid relegation after eight straight seasons in the top-flight – was Hiromu Mitsumaru. Silent, solid, the left full-back had a good season despite Sagan’s problems. Taiya Koga isn’t still constant as Reysol were hoping for him to be, so Mitsumaru will be a decent choice to avoid worst problems in the run back to J1.
09. Kawin Thamsatchanan – from OH Leuven to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
Theoretically, Sapporo didn’t need a new goalkeeper. Yet, Gu Sung-yun has his “no moments” and Takanori Sugeno opted isn’t getting any younger. So Consadole needed a real choice to battle this urgency, since the South Korean no. 25 will have to take one year off to face military duty, which is a pretty big deal for Korean players (just ask Son Heung-min and others what it meant to avoid that after winning the Asian Games in 2019).
Consadole need a solid second choice and Kawin can definitely be another option to pick. He’ll need to settle, but he’s deeply talented – so much that he had the chance of going abroad and playing in Europe – and he’s part of a magic generation who has already enabled Thailand to be back in the map of Asian football. The same golden generation who has already Chanathip in Hokkaido: what a coincidence, right?
08. Sho Inagaki – from Sanfrecce Hiroshima to Nagoya Grampus
Among Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s bad boyband of scrambles and not-likeable football, there’s surely a name that pops out. He’s done most of the obscure work in these two seasons; he’s been raised up by Hiroshi Jofuku himself in his times with Ventforet Kofu and he’s been fundamental to see Hiroshima thriving both in 2018 and ’19, with the team capable of having their own say in the Champions League fight.
You would say that Sho Inagaki – a player without a YouTube comp, you won’t find it – isn’t exactly the right fit for a team like Grampus, who had usually an entertaining brand of football. Luck is that the new manager – or not so new, he’s been there since September – is Massimo Ficcadenti, who surely needs gritty and energic players like Inagaki. Who, anyway, has improved a lot in Hiroshima: is he the missing piece for Nagoya?
07. Tatsuki Nara – from Kawasaki Frontale to Kashima Antlers
In the huge diaspora Antlers suffered in the last two or three years – with many talents leaving Ibaraki for Europe –, defense is surely the department who suffered the most. Kashima lost a lot of personnel and had to field Tomoya Inukai two consecutive years, while Koki Machida had to re-invent himself as a left-back from time to time and Kei Koizumi suddenly became a right back.
It was clear that Kashima needed some reinforcements in that part of the pitch: they got Katsuya Nagato from Vegalta (super), Daiki Sugioka from Bellmare (I would have some doubts to field him as a left-back) and most of all Tatsuki Nara. Despite Jeong Seung-hyun has been decent with Kashima, Antlers desperately needed a good, proven center-back. Nara has been injured, but – if healthy – he can definitely be an upgrade for such a club.
06. Kei Chinen – from Kawasaki Frontale to Oita Trinita
We’d say it’s now or never for him. Kei Chinen has been a good sub and second option for Kawasaki Frontale, but he hasn’t been able to convince Oniki to keep him as a member of the rotation. Kudos to him for having battle against captain Yu Kobayashi and Leandro Damião, but it wasn’t enough by him and the former no. 20 had to leave on loan. The destination, though, seems really interesting.
You might think we’ve been too hard in the opening, but when we say “it’s now or never”, in our opinion it is in terms of understanding if Chinen could be a super-star at this level or if he’s another J. Leaguer, capable of just surviving in this league. Oita Trinita could be a golden chance, since Tomohiro Katanosaka has given value to Fujimoto, Onaiwu, Goto and Mitsuhira. Why not him? He could form a solid duo with Daiki Watari.
05. Yusuke Goto – from Oita Trinita to Shimizu S-Pulse
Speaking about Trinita products, they’ve been up to something this Winter. They lost a lot of players, but they took in several interesting deals. Among the players on their way out, Yusuke Goto was a little surprising, if not because – without Onaiwu and Fujimoto around anymore – this 2020 season could have been HIS season to finally take the stage with the jersey he always wore.
Instead, Goto picked S-Pulse to start from scratch. And boy if Shimizu will need him at his best, since S-Pulse lost Douglas, lost Kitagawa six months before him and substantially never got a real replacement. At Nihondaira, the club is just hoping that a battery with Jong Tae-se, Junior Dutra, Theerasil Dangda and Kenta Nishizawa will be enough to avoid relegation again. And what if Goto will be the hero, this time?
04. Yuta Toyokawa – from KAS Eupen to Cerezo Osaka
Beware of Cerezo Osaka, kids. We’ve tended to undermine their chances and look at what they’ve done last year. Lotina lost his centre-forward twice – first Ken Tokura, then Bruno Mendes – and they still got a solid fifth place, just one-point shy of the fourth that would have been worth a place in the 2020 AFC Champions League. In doing that, Cerezo had the second-best defense ever (just 25 goals allowed).
Why then I’m quoting Yuta Toyokawa as one of the best signings around? First of all, he really resembles the Lotina mentality and he’s grown through Kashima youth ranks. His stint with Fagiano Okayama is still memorable in my head and his Belgian adventure was solid; he can also play in several positions, so he could adapt to Lotina’s will. He’ll be a joker for every Cerezo game, even if he’ll not start.
03. Kazunari Ichimi – from Gamba Osaka to Yokohama FC
Wow if Gamba have some problems in the offensive department… problems of abundancy! This Winter, the black and blue side of Osaka had to decide the faith of Takashi Usami, Adailton, Patric, Kazuma Watanabe, newly shining talents like Shoji Toyama and Dai Tsukamoto and some loanees coming back. All of this after having sold Keito Nakamura, Ryotaro Meshino and Hwang Ui-jo last Summer (I mean…).
Among the players coming back, three different decisions were taken. After a super-season with V-Varen Nagasaki, Gamba sold Hiroto Goya to Kashiwa Reysol, letting lose once for all the loose on him. Akito Takagi – who had a blasting first part of 2019 in J3, only to be slightly disappointed with Montedio in the second part – was loaned again in J2, this time to Matsumoto Yamaga.
And what about the most promising of them? Yes, because Kazunari Ichimi wasn’t always on fire and he didn’t score for several games in a row, but he was constant in Kyoto. He featured in some important games and now he’s off to Yokohama to prove himself, this time at J1 level. If he’ll be able to repeat at least 50-60% of what he has done with Sanga, Gamba will have found another champion (and Yokohama FC will avoid relegation).
02. Hidetoshi Miyuki – from Renofa Yamaguchi to Shonan Bellmare
We won’t be too long about this. Hidetoshi Miyuki has been a joy for any J2 fan in these last two years, despite Renofa haven’t exactly pivoted as expected. He’s a Regista in the real sense of the word and Bellmare need such a player, especially after the rough patch they lived in 2019. We’re curious to understand if he’ll be able to keep up this level also in the top-flight; we surely hope so.
01. Gen Shoji – from Toulouse FC to Gamba Osaka
This isn’t only the best signing in this Winter transfer market – because it’ll be a game changer for Gamba Osaka –, but this is also a strange signing. We didn’t expect Shoji to be already back to Japan this soon, given that he’s just 27 years-old and, if fit, he’s definitely a starter for the national team. And we actually expected a lot from his stint in France, but Toulouse are going down this season and maybe this move is for the best.
We still believe that a healthy Shoji could play in the Top 5 European leagues, but he preferred to go back and not to Kashima, while instead he’ll play for the club that raised him when he was a kid. Shoji is from Kansai and Gamba needed a strong center-back, because Miura isn’t at the same level and both Kim Young-gwon and Ryo Shinzato are substantially back-ups.
Shoji is that kind of move that brings you a title, a championship. And maybe that’s what Miyamoto needs at his third year at the helm of a young, but so promising team. In the end, Gamba Osaka are missing a little of that “Antlers-mentality” and maybe the center-back could be the right move to give the club a real chance to compete for the top.
