J-League’s Yokohama to approach Nakamura

February 17, 2010

The head of J-League side Yokohama Marinos said Wednesday he would approach the club’s former midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, now playing for Espanyol, about a possible transfer, local reports said.

The 31-year-old freekick specialist played for Yokohama from 1997 before moving to Italian side Reggina in 2002. He enjoyed success with Celtic, winning three league titles in four seasons, before moving to Spain.

But the star international has struggled to earn playing time at the Spanish club since transferring last year.

“I believe we will meet somewhere this week,” club president Akira Kaetsu told reporters. “All kinds of things are possible. We will not know anything until we meet,” he said.

Yokohama made a transfer offer for Nakamura last year but were outbid by Espanyol.

TOKYO (AFP)

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Nakamura decides to move to Espanyol: report

June 22, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has decided to move to Espanyol from Celtic after talks over a transfer to his former club Yokohama Marinos collapsed, according to Jiji Press.

Officials of the J-League club confirmed the decision after holding talks with Nakamura’s agent on Monday, Jiji Press reported.

Club officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nakamura, 31, had initially expressed his readiness to re-sign with the Marinos when his contract with the former Scottish champions expires at the end of this month.

But the talks with Yokohama stalled, with Nakamura’s side reportedly citing the club’s “insincerity” over financial matters and requests for his appearances in club events before he signed a contract.

Yokohama had offered him a two-and-a-half-year deal with an annual wage of 150 million yen (1.6 million dollars), according to Japanese media.

Nakamura’s agent has already informed Espanyol about his intention to move to the Spanish side, which has offered 1.2 million euros a year (1.7 million dollars), Japanese media reported.

Nakamura has spent the past seven seasons in Europe, the first three with Italy’s Reggina. The left-footed deadball specialist helped the Glasgow side win and defend the Scottish Premier League title from 2006 to 2008.

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Nakamura set to announce Spain move: report

June 21, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s Shunsuke Nakamura will announce his move to Espanyol from Celtic as early as Tuesday and make his debut in a friendly against Liverpool on August 2, a report said Sunday.

Nakamura’s agent Roberto Tsukuda will Monday meet executives at J-League side Yokohama Marinos, who were also vying for his signature, to tell them of the star’s intention after talks with Espanyol in Barcelona over the past week.

Nakamura told Tsukuda by telephone last week that he had decided on the move to the Spanish side after talks with Yokohama, his first professional side, collapsed, Nikkan Sports said.

His debut will also be the inaugural match at Espanyol’s new stadium.

According to Japanese reports, the two-year deal will see Nakamura, who is leaving Celtic on a free transfer, pick up 1.2 million euros a year (1.7 million dollars).

Nakamura turns 31 on Wednesday and his contract with former Scottish champions Celtic expires at the end of this month.

“It’s up to Shun (Nakamura) to decide. Marinos or Espanyol,” Tsukuda told another daily, Sankei Sports.

“It is not that he is choosing terms of his contract. The point is how he will spend one year in the run-up to the World Cup finals and which is better for him to raise the level of his play.”

After polishing his game with the Marinos, Nakamura spent three years at Reggina in Italy before joining the Glasgow side in 2005 and helping them to three successive Scottish Premier League championships.

Despite his longtime dream of playing in Spain, Nakamura has recently talked of returning to the J-League to ease the burden of travelling for international duty ahead of the World Cup and raise his children in Japan.

But talks with Yokohama stalled with Nakamura’s side reportedly citing the club’s “insincerity” over financial matters and requests for his appearance in club events before he signed a contract.

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Nakamura close to signing with Espanyol: report

June 17, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan and Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura is on the verge of signing with Espanyol to realise his longtime dream of playing in the Spanish league, according to a press report.

Nakamura’s agent Roberto Tsukuda and Espanyol have “already reached a basic agreement” on the midfielder’s transfer to the Spanish club, the Sports Hochi reported citing an unnamed source involved in the talks under way in Barcelona.

The daily said that Espanyol sporting director Ramon Planes had secretly visited Japan recently and offered Nakamura a two-year deal with an annual pre-tax wage of 200 million yen (2.1 million dollars).

Tsukuda has been talking with Planes and Espanyol executive German de la Cruz four times a day since he arrived in Barcelona late Saturday, Hochi said.

The agent is expected to return to Japan shortly. His Tokyo office, Sport Consulting Japan, refused to comment on the report.

Nakamura, who turns 31 next week, had intially expressed his readiness to re-sign with his former J-League club Yokohama Marinos when his contract with the former Scottish champions expires at the end of this month.

But the talks with Yokohama have stalled with Nakamura’s side reportedly citing the club’s “insincerity” over financial matters and requests for his appearances in club events before he signed a contract.

Yokohama have offered him a two-and-a-half-year deal with an annual wage of 150 million yen, according to Japanese media.

Nakamura has spent the past seven seasons in Europe, the first three with Italy’s Reggina. The left-footed deadball specialist helped the Glasgow side clinch the Scottish Premier League title from 2006 to 2008.

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Nakamura´s Yokohama talks stalled: reports

June 13, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Talks over the transfer of Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura to former club Yokohama Marinos have stalled over “unforeseen problems,” press reports said Friday.

The Sports Nippon daily quoted an unidentified party involved in the talks as saying the chances of a deal that would take the player back to his first professional club were “almost gone.”

Spanish league strugglers Espanyol are among overseas clubs reportedly interested in acquiring Nakamura, whose deal with the former Scottish champions is due to expire at the end of this month.

The Daily Sports said Nakamura’s side had been disappointed by Yokohama’s “lack of sincerity” such as a demand for his appearance at a publicity event before he signed a contract.

Nakamura, who turns 31 on June 24, failed to show up for a medical check organised by Yokohama Marinos on Thursday.

“There have been unforeseen problems and that is why discussions are taking longer than first expected,” Yokohama Marinos president Masaharu Saito told reporters Thursday, according to Kyodo News and other media.

“But I believe we will soon get the answer we are hoping for. We have tried to put together the best offer we can and are just waiting for a reply.”

Nakamura has spent the past seven seasons in Europe, the first three with Italy’s Reggina and the rest at Parkhead.

He had expressed a wish to play in Spain but in recent years has stated his desire to return to the J-League, partly to avoid the rigours of travelling long distances for international duty.

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Espanyol join race to sign Nakamura – reports

May 31, 2009

TOKYO (AFP) – Spanish league strugglers Espanyol have joined the race to sign Japan and Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, media here reported.

There will be no transfer fee required to get Nakamura, who turns 31 in late June, when his contract with Celtic expires next month.

"It is true they (Espanyol) have approached us," Nakamura’s agent Roberto Tsukuda told the Daily Sports newspaper, which also reported that Celtic have formally offered to extend their deal with the left-footed playmaker.

But Nakamura is widely reported to be on the verge of signing with his old J-League home club Yokohama Marinos.

Espanyol have promised Nakamura an annual wage of about 200 million yen (2.1 million dollars), compared with 150 million yen offered by Yokohama, Sports Hochi reported.

Nakamura has spent the past seven seasons in Europe, the first three with Italy’s Reggina and the rest at Parkhead.

There have also been approaches from clubs in England, France and Italy to get Nakamura and he will make a final decision in June, according to the daily Asahi Shimbun.

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Give me a break, Strachan tells Nakamura

January 31, 2009

GLASGOW (AFP) – Celtic boss Gordon Strachan says Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura can return to his homeland at the end of the season if he wishes – in the hope a holiday in the Land of the Rising Sun could be a perk of any deal.

Nakamura, 30, is thinking of going home after four years at Parkhead to raise his children there and has also been finding round-trips for internationals a strain.

The star is now believed to be mulling a possible return to his first club Yokohama Marinos.

"Naka’s never said he’s going back," Strachan said.

"But if he said to me, ‘I want to go home to play in Japan and show everybody what I’ve learnt playing at Celtic and overseas’, we would just have to say, ‘Thank you very much, it’s been a great experience’ – and hopefully get a holiday in Tokyo out of it."

Written by: AFP