Chelsea FC Linked With Japanese Star Yoshinori Muto

UPDATE: Chelsea have reportedly made a bid for the winger, check out our coverage here.

It appears as though Chelsea FC’s quest for a midfielder has taken a very easterly turn. There are reports surfacing today in western media that claim that the club are interested in signing Japanese international Yoshinori Muto from FC Tokyo at some point in the near future.

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Many of you may not have heard of him, and this is not your fault, but before we get to profiling the player let’s address the cynical side of affairs. Chelsea recently signed a lucrative shirt-sponsor deal with Japanese firm Yokohama, and thus it was always going to follow that the club would be linked with numerous Japanese talent. This may well just remain an unfounded rumour but there are reasons to take this seriously ~~(marketing)~~. Here presenting Yoshinori Muto…

The 22 year old is a winger who made his senior debut in July 2013 for Tokyo FC, the sole club that he has so far played for. Last season he appeared in all but one of Tokyo’s league games, contributing 13 goals to the cause. Furthermore, he has obtained 11 caps for the national side while this year he’s already bagged three goals in four matches including this stunner. (Head to about 1:17 to check it out).

The press and fans over in Japan who watch him regularly do generally tend to speak of Muto very highly. AC Milan player and Japanese legend Keisuke Honda shared his thoughts about Muto during the Asian Cup stating that “We’ve never had his style before in the national team. I like him” (The Japanese Times).

Apart from this, it’s reasonably hard to find out more information about Muto although this admittedly may be due to the lack of a “I speak Japanese” quality on my resumé. Nevertheless, here’s a decent compilation video of his performances last season that seems to paint him in good light:

Again it is worth noting that this is a rumour that has so far failed to gain traction here in the UK or US and thus should be treated as such. With the new sponsor it is inevitable that such rumours will arise, but it would be silly to outright dismiss them especially since Japan is an emerging football nation that does possess some raw talent that may be worth tapping into.