Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Borrusia Dortmund’s Japanese attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa, an exciting young prospect who looks set to light up the Premier League and become a real favourite at Old Trafford.
The young Asian midfield dynamo started his career at Cerezo Osaka in his native Japan and impressed in 125 appearances for the club, where he scored an incredible 55 goals from midfield, but Japanese football is one thing, and the Bundesliga is entirely another. When Dortmund took a punt on the youngster they paid just £280,000 for his signature due to a clause in his contract allowing him to talk to big clubs for this fee. Many clubs will be wishing they had spotted his talent at this stage, as he has gone on to impress in 49 appearances for the club, scoring a brilliant 21 goals in two seasons for the club. In his last season at Dortmund he had more goals and assists to his name than any other Midfielder in an extremely competitive league.
In Kagawa, United have signed a player who looks like he can become a club legend. Fans will be correct to be excited by the prospect of seeing this prolific Midfielder playing for the club. He will be the first Japanese player to sign for United, and will cost an initial fee of around £13 million – not bad for such a talented young player, even if it isn’t quite as cheap as £280,000. Kagawa will join up with fellow Asian superstar Park Ji-Sung at Manchester and will hopefully settle to the English culture well.
Dortmund’s Sporting Director Michael Zorc said about the transfer; “We would like to thank Shinji for his commitment and for playing a big part in two exceptionally successful years culminating in two German championships and a DFB Cup title, we wish Shinji all the best for the future.”
Of course, the commercial aspect of the transfer will undoubtedly be discussed. Undeniably, signing players which are so widely admired in Asia brings a huge amount of admirers for any club, and will make the club significant money in merchandising. Make no mistake, though, Kagawa is in the premier league on merit, and will strike fear into Premier League Defences next season.
