Former Arsenal and Fulham midfielder Junichi Inamoto’s return to the J. League could be confirmed as early as this afternoon after last season’s runners-up Kawasaki Frontale announced on Sunday that they expected to have a deal confirmed for the 30-year-old within ‘the next couple of days’.
Inamoto, who remains best known for his pair of goals in the 2002 World Cup, only joined French side Rennes from Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany last summer, but expressed his desire to move back to Japan last month after finding playing opportunities limited in Ligue 1. The midfielder has also appeared for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City, and Galatasaray throughout what has been a somewhat nomadic European adventure since leaving Gamba Osaka in 2001, but enjoyed a return to the domestic spotlight with a first national team goal in over six years against Ghana last September.
One player who has already signed on the dotted line for a J. League comeback is Shinji Ono, whose arrival at Shimizu S-Pulse was set in stone on Saturday. The former Urawa Reds and Feyenoord midfielder made just 29 Bundesliga appearances for VfL Bochum in an injury-plagued two years, but hopes that rejoining his family in Japan will help revitalise his career and put him back in contention for the World Cup squad this summer.
Sota Hirayama may have been the toast of the nation after a hat-trick on his full international debut against Yemen last week, but the FC Tokyo striker insists that anything less than ten league goals would still make 2010 a disappointment. Hirayama was labelled as the next big thing after breaking into the Japan Olympic team at the age of just 18 and scoring eight goals in the Dutch Eredivisie in his first season as a professional with Heracles Almelo in 2005-06. His career has stagnated since moving to the J. League, however, with just 13 goals in total over the last three and a half years.
The 24-year-old was part of an experimental squad for the Yemen game consisting almost entirely of uncapped players, with Japan’s progress in Asian Cup qualification virtually guaranteed. Takeshi Okada’s side fell 2-0 down early on, but in single-handedly leading their recovery to win 3-2, Hirayama became the first Japan player to net a trio on his debut since Takeo Wakabayashi back in 1930.
Key dates
25 January - Japan national team training camp (Kagoshima)
2 February - Friendly match: Japan v Venezuela (Oita)
6-14 February - 2010 East Asian Football Championship (Tokyo)
23-24 February - AFC Champions League group stage matchday 1
27 February - Fuji Xerox Super Cup (Kashima Antlers v Gamba Osaka)
6 March - J. League matchday 1
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