AFP afpji

Nakamura chooses Espanyol ahead of World Cup

Mon 22 Jun, 12:55 PM


--AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi

AFP/Kazuhiro Nogi
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TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has decided to move to Espanyol from Celtic as he prepares to lead Japan in next year's World Cup finals, his former J-League club said Monday.

Nakamura's signature had been sought by the Spanish club and Japan's Yokohama Marinos as his contract with the former Scottish champions was to expire at the end of this month.

"We were told that Mr. Nakamura's mind had been split between Marinos and Espanyol," Yokohama spokesman Masanori Hakamada told AFP. "But he has finally chosen to play in the Spanish league which he has longed to join over the years."

"It is a disappointing result for Marinos but we wish him a brilliant career in the Spanish league as well as in the Japanese national team," he said.

Nakamura, who turns 31 on Wednesday, had initially expressed his readiness to re-sign with the Marinos, where he made his professional debut in 1997 and played until 2002 when he moved to Italy's Reggina before joining Celtic in 2005.

With his mastery of place kicks, the left-footed playmaker helped the Glasgow side win and defend the Scottish Premier League title from 2006 to 2008.

Despite his long-time 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 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.

He badly needed a rest to nurse a recurring groin injury after the long European season coupled with the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Yokohama had offered him a two-and-a-half-year deal with an annual wage of 150 million yen (1.6 million dollars), compared with 1.2 million euros (1.7 million dollars) contained in Espanyol's two-year deal, according to Japanese media.

"It is quite disappointing because we wanted to see him (Nakamura) play in the Marinos' uniform again," Yokohama president Masaharu Saito told Japanese media.

"We were told that he wanted to test his potential at a still higher level," Saito said. "We hope he will do well in Spain and help upgrade the Japanese national team in the run-up to the World Cup finals."

 

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  1. #15 heard yours was dancin queen by abba,any truth in­ that?

    From METZ, on Thu 25 Jun 1:53PM

  2. Pt7...I bet ur fav song is TIMEWARP...its 2009 m8...the­ war is over and we put a man on the moon too...

    From Stuart, on Tue 23 Jun 7:16PM

  3. Celtic-Worst Away defeats in the champs league EVER.­ FACT

    From Paul G CHAMPIONS, on Tue 23 Jun 11:04AM

  4. #10 champs at what??????? Tiddlywinks?Hopscotch? You­ just a sour grape you had a 7 point lead and still blew­ it!!!! Be the same for you shower next season,Fail!!!­ Fail!!!!!!!

    From METZ, on Tue 23 Jun 10:12AM

  5. Breaking news.....................KAKA WANTS TO BE A­ GER....................LMAO!

    From Marty, on Mon 22 Jun 10:39PM

  6. get a job paul geebag ..ya waster!

    From Marty, on Mon 22 Jun 10:38PM

  7. lol...can you see the sfa letting celtic win 4 in a­ row......celtic were the champs this year...world knows­ that!

    From Marty, on Mon 22 Jun 10:36PM

  8. paul gee bag....this time next year falter @#$% will be­ gone and you will be back in the @#$% where you­ belong.....have a nice evening @#$%!

    From Marty, on Mon 22 Jun 10:31PM

  9. If rangers had to sell season tickets they would bring­ out similar stories to celtic, " Fortune wants to­ sign" "Celtic linked with Ronaldo"­ " Lennon wants to try slim fast". Rangers­ season tickets are already gone as the waiting list was­ pretty large. Celtic on the other hand cant sell all­ there season tickets. Wonder why?

    From Paul G CHAMPIONS, on Mon 22 Jun 9:15PM

  10. Hey Stuart,hows it diddlin? Not only you losin a player­ but another one doesnt want to sign,maybe you should­ have paid the extra 50k that the hibees wanted last­ season.Like I`ve said,The Bears are very slow at­ announcing who they are looking at,always have­ been,always will cf Johnson,Laudrop,Gascoine et al,am­ no too concerned at present,still plenty of time for­ us,we dont have to play 2 euro qualifiers like you­ do,so we got time on our side,all in gud time big­ man,all in gud time

    From METZ, on Mon 22 Jun 8:44PM

  11. I rest my fooking case...top 2 stories on Rangers­ website are 1) Setana default on payment (there goes­ the transfer budget)2) John Martin in the driving seat­ for Rangers (What the @#$% has this got to do with­ footie)

    From Stuart, on Mon 22 Jun 7:25PM

  12. Visit - betworldcup2010 . co . uk

    Your World Cup 2010­ Betting guide - bet on the 2010 World Cup in South­ Africa! Find the latest World Cup free bets, World Cup­ 2010 betting odds, match fixtures and World Cup betting­ information!

    Bet on the 2010 World Cup with @­ betworldcup2010!

    From phil, on Mon 22 Jun 5:59PM

  13. Metz m8...we are losing a player and we are telling u­ all about it...any news from IPOX yet or as u say­ waiting till Aug 14th

    From Stuart, on Mon 22 Jun 5:40PM

  14. Another 1 bites the dust,and another one down and­ another 1 down another 1 bites the dust!!!!!!!!!! join­ in if you know the­ words!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From METZ, on Mon 22 Jun 3:46PM

  15. He off like a septic foreskin.

    From css, on Mon 22 Jun 1:48PM

  16. gl naka, thx :) hail hail

    From DAVID, on Mon 22 Jun 1:31PM
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