Seen an extremely random rumour linking us to Yoshinori Muto of FC Tokyo.

Apparently the 22 year old is primarily a left sided forward player and has 17 goals from 37 appearances.

Could be a record fee for an Asian player but the links are tentative at best and I there is any truth to the story I would guess it's us appeasing our new sponsors and maybe looking to target the Asian market and fan base.

Vitesse will be thrilled

I've looked into this young man and he looks like he is good on the ball, but he is so small, I doubt very much he will be strong enough for our game. Salah the second I think

I hope we don't just sign some random Japanese kid to please our new sponsors and gain more Japanese supporters. Waste of everyones time because he will never see the field and will be loaned constantly and eventually sold.

Didn't we already have a Muto, no that was Mutu.

Didn't we already have a Muto, no that was Mutu.

 

Mutu, Mata, Muto. We'll just need Motta to complete the set. 

22 and hasn't played outside of Japan?

 

Jog on.

Well, their president says he's had a bid

Chelsea have lodged a bid for FC Tokyo forward Yoshinori Muto.

The J League club have confirmed an offer has been made and the Blues are expected to be willing to pay around £4million for the international.

FC Tokyo president Naoki Ogane said: “It is true that Chelsea sent us an offer for Muto.

“It is a formal offer with conditions. They want to acquire him in the summer.”

The 22-year-old was named in the J League’s Best XI in 2014, having scored 13 goals in 33 appearances in his debut season.

He has impressed again at the start of the new campaign, which started last month, and has already found the net three times in his first four outings.

Muto has represented his country 10 times and would not be eligible to move until the English transfer window moves in June, however the player is honoured to be linked with the west Londoners.

He said: “I have not decided yet at all.

“It is an honour for me to receive this offer from a great club."

Chelsea announced they had agreed a new five-year shirt sponsorship deal with Japanese company Yokohama, a contract believed worth £40 million-a-season, in February.

Completing a move for Muto would strengthen the club’s hold in the market.

Chelsea play QPR this weekend as they look to close in on the Premier League title, you can pick your starting XI below.

Edited April 9, 201511 yr by Zola

Won't ever kick a ball for chelsea

It's a marketing move, obviously,a Japanese footballer in a CFC kit on billboards across Asia.

have seen him play a couple games. he's a handy little player, not sure if he'll make the grade here but he'll have a good career in europe

 

he's no dong fangzhou...in that, a genuine nothing player who has no business in europe, but chelsea quality is obviously most likely out of his reach

Well i'm sure he'll be a distant 3rd choice behind Costa and Remy, this does sound like the end for Bamford though.

I reckon Stamford the Lion has got more chance of playing for us than this guy and my feeling is they're both nothing more than mascots. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and he offers us something on the pitch, but signing a Japanese 'star' (??) so soon after the Yokohama deal is too much of a coincidence.

 

The new club song will be 'If she don't come I'll tickle her bum with a lump of Sashimi'.

Is he actually any good?

Is there a link with the tyre sponsor?

This could be a very lucrative deal for us.

 

http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm

 

37m potential shirt sales.

Edited April 9, 201511 yr by coco

This could be a very lucrative deal for us.

 

http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm

 

37m potential shirt sales.

 

Yeah hopefully every single resident of Tokyo buys a Chelsea shirt.

Ridiculous signing considering what Bamford is currently doing. I have absolutely no interest in how many shirts we sell in one part of the world.

Yeah hopefully every single resident of Tokyo buys a Chelsea shirt.

 

Pfft, there's 3 kits. That's 111 million shirts.

 

Ridiculous signing considering what Bamford is currently doing. I have absolutely no interest in how many shirts we sell in one part of the world.

 

Sign him, get a photo of him in the shirt, let him play for us in the tour of Japan in pre-season then send him on-loan to a German team.

Seems a waste of funds to me.

22 and playing in a piss poor league and the fact hardly any Asian player makes it in European football.

No doubt just a PR stunt to shift more shirts and expand the brand further out but still feels pretty meh.

Speculate to accumulate, if he earns a few million back on top of his fee then its been worthwhile. Save up the beans for big players who will actually play !

Edited April 9, 201511 yr by Zola

22 years old, apparently the fee would be no more than £5m.

Along with the new shirt deal if it boosted our profile in Asia why not?

He'd probably need to spend a year on loan in Europe to qualify for a UK work permit and if he did well at Vitesse or Bersiktas or whoever we're partnered up with then who knows he might come in and be a useful squad player much like Smertin was for us.

It's about as low risk as they come so why not?

I wouldn't write him off just because he's 22. The likes of Park Ji-Sung and Shinji Kagawa played in Japan till they were 21-22.

 

Although if we were actually looking at the Asian market and also getting a useful player, I would probably go for Ki Sung-yeung

It's certainly not a waste of funds as I'm sure that would be made up for in shirt sales etc. 

He could be decent anyway. I just hope he doesn't take Bamford's spot.

I know absolutely nothing about this guy, I'll ask my Japanese mate and see if he can give any insight.