Japanese Players in Vogue as English Clubs Widen Horizons 

Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - September 14, 2024 Ipswich Town's Conor Chaplin in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma. (Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - September 14, 2024 Ipswich Town's Conor Chaplin in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma. (Action Images via Reuters)
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Japanese Players in Vogue as English Clubs Widen Horizons 

Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - September 14, 2024 Ipswich Town's Conor Chaplin in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma. (Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Brighton & Hove Albion v Ipswich Town - The American Express Community Stadium, Brighton, Britain - September 14, 2024 Ipswich Town's Conor Chaplin in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Kaoru Mitoma. (Action Images via Reuters)

Japanese players are moving to English football in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money.

Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One.

Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are "being held in higher esteem" by English clubs compared to the past.

"The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer but just saying this or that player is a good player," he said.

"It feels like there is more interest in Japanese players from around the world."

Currently also in England's top-flight are Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal) and Yukinari Sugawara (Southampton).

- 'A bit of fear' -

Japanese players have had mixed success in the Premier League since Junichi Inamoto became the first when he joined Arsenal in 2001.

Inamoto left for Fulham after a single season where he failed to make a league appearance for the Gunners.

Shinji Kagawa won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2013 but drifted to the margins after a bright start and returned to Borussia Dortmund after an up-and-down two years.

FIFA-registered agent Joel Pannick, who has 50 Japanese players on his books, says English clubs previously had "a bit of a fear of Japanese players".

"The stereotypical approach would be that the player would be technically very good but would they be physical enough? Would they be strong enough?" he told AFP.

"Previously maybe Japanese players were pigeonholed -- they go to Germany or Holland, where it's more technical."

Pannick says the recent success of Japanese players at British clubs, especially at Celtic under former J. League and now Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou, has helped change perceptions.

He also says the Covid pandemic changed the way clubs scout players, making video footage and data from around the world more readily available.

"Teams wouldn't want to spend the time and money taking a risk going to a place far away when they don't know what they're going to see when they get there," he said.

"Now that everything is available to watch hours or minutes after the match, it has removed any fear of 'should the Japanese market be one that we look at?'"

- Quality and value -

Relatively cheap transfer fees have made Japanese players a canny investment, with Pannick calling them "more attractively valued than the equivalent player from anywhere else in the world".

Brighton paid just 2.5 million pounds to sign the winger Mitoma from the J. League in 2021, while prolific goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi joined Celtic for 4.5 million pounds the same year.

Furuhashi was heavily linked with Manchester City this summer.

The prices mean that in recent transfer windows it has mostly been Championship clubs entering the market for Japanese players.

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu says players are willing to play in the second tier and work their way up.

"The J. League is a very good league but the players want to play at the highest level," said Moriyasu.

"The Premier League is where the best players in the world are and they want to be there too. I think a lot of players have moved to the Championship with a view to making the step up."

Pannick says post-Brexit changes to work permit rules have forced English clubs to look beyond Europe for signings and be "more open-minded and creative".

Japan's recent performances at the World Cup, which included wins over Germany and Spain in Qatar in 2022, have put their players firmly in the shop window.

Pannick says they have the mentality to make the most of the opportunity.

"With the players I've worked with, if something hasn't gone right, if they've been taken out of the team or if they're asked to play in a position that's not their favorite, the default response is: what can I do better?" he said.

"The players identify themselves as ambassadors of Japan and they want to give a good account of themselves."



Alcaraz Out as Top Players Pay Tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits a return to Czech Republic's Tomas Machac during their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits a return to Czech Republic's Tomas Machac during their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
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Alcaraz Out as Top Players Pay Tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits a return to Czech Republic's Tomas Machac during their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits a return to Czech Republic's Tomas Machac during their men's singles match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai on October 10, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)

World number two Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters in straight sets by 33rd-ranked Tomas Machac on Thursday, losing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.

The Czech will face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals, after a surprisingly straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over an injured Daniil Medvedev earlier.

Alcaraz's match came shortly after his idol and compatriot Rafael Nadal announced he would retire after the Davis Cup finals in November.

"Honestly I couldn't believe it," said Alcaraz, but insisted it hadn't affected his playing.

"Thankfully I saw it one hour before the match, so I had time to accept it and forget it."

The 21-year-old told reporters that to see Nadal "leave tennis, which is what he loves, is painful", adding it was "difficult news for everyone".

Sinner for his part called the Spaniard an "unbelievable person" as he spoke about the positive impact Nadal had on young players like himself.

"It's tough news for all the tennis world and not only (the tennis world)," he said.

- 'Unbelievable' -

The bad news continued for Alcaraz as he was stunned by 23-year-old Machac's hard-hitting pace.

"His level was so high, I thought he was going to give me a window of opportunity, but he didn't... It was unbelievable. It was crazy for me," the four-time Grand Slam champion said afterwards.

The Czech edged him out in a closely fought first-set tiebreak after neither player was able to break their opponent's serve, AFP reported.

The Spaniard looked like he might make a comeback when he broke in the sixth game of the second set to level.

However, Machac powered through and broke Alcaraz again in the 11th game to claim the shock victory and progress to the semi-finals.

"I knew that against Alcaraz I have to play at this level to have a chance to win," said Machac, saying there were "no other options".

He said he would try more of the same against Sinner.

"He's playing unbelievable tennis... but I'm really looking forward to the challenge, so I will enjoy it," Machac said.

- Sinner takes advantage -

Sinner, who Alcaraz beat in the China Open final last week, looked strong from the beginning of his match against Medvedev.

This was the fifth time the two have met in the latter stages of tournaments this year, and the Italian has won four of those clashes.

In the first set, which lasted only 25 minutes, the Italian broke Medvedev in the second and sixth games to murmurs of surprise from the crowd.

The Russian kept holding his shoulder, which he had said the day before had "some niggles", and received medical attention several times during the match.

"The energy of a winner, I would say today I didn't have it unfortunately because of my physical condition," said Medvedev.

"And that's going to be the focus to try to get it back."

"He didn't play at his best," said Sinner, acknowledging the injury.

"But this can happen and I took advantage of that today. I felt like I was playing some good tennis, especially the first set, trying to keep going in the second set. It was a good performance from my side."