3 players Aston Villa could sign after Vissel Kobe partnership | OneFootball

Highlights

Aston Villa have announced a 'new collaborative partnership with Japanese club, Vissel Kobe' in recent days after a statement on the club website. This sees the club grow their presence internationally as results on the pitch have gone a long way in doing so over the past 12 months or so.

With this partnership being announced, there could be significant movement between the clubs in terms of playing staff as has been seen many times in the past when two clubs partner up. Unai Emery's squad could benefit greatly as there have been many examples of brilliant talent being produced by the J-League in recent years. Players such as Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino represent some of the top players to have initially played in the J-League before playing for English sides.

Aston Villa could strike while they have the chance and snap up some of the best talent in the division as well as from their new partner club. Ange Postecoglou of Tottenham has been known to be a fan of signing players from the Japanese league after the Australian's spell as a manager in Asia gave him the insight that there are some hidden gems over there. So, we have three names that we feel Aston Villa could target from the J-League in the coming transfer windows.

Mao Hosoya

The 22-year-old could be a strong option to bring in as a back-up option alongside Jhon Duran to battle for the number two spot behind Ollie Watkins. The English striker is currently the main man for Emery as the talisman but as that continues, interest from more clubs will grow and a transfer could eventually happen. When you look at his goal record over the past few seasons, the centre-forward has been consistently good, breaching the ten goal mark in the Premier League for the previous three campaigns (14, 11 and then 15 last term). Should Watkins therefore move on to pastures new, Hosoya could move into the direct back-up role while Duran finds himself in the starting line-up.

Mao Hosoyo's J1 League stats

Such is the talent of the young Japanese forward however, that he may even be able to fight his way into the starting team. His pace and ability to remain calm in front of goal is similar to Watkins with some very good and intelligent movement being a dream for the midfield players in behind him trying to create chances.

Hosoya has scored 12 goals in 28 appearances thus far in the J-League this season as the campaign enters the finals stages. Kashiwa Reysol find themselves 16th place out of 18 teams in the division with only 29 points to their name from 30 games in total. This emphasises the impressive nature of Hosoya's performance in front of goal. The striker has a cool head in front of goal for a man of his age, with very little phasing him when he finds himself one-on-one with a goalkeeper.

The transfer fee required would likely be extremely nominal which is a key thing to consider in these deals for a club like Aston Villa as his resale value could be a lot more in future even if he comes in and gives a good account of himself.

Kuryu Matsuki

FC Tokyo's Matsuki is a very promising midfield player that could be one of the next stars to come from the J-League with the young midfielder having really impressed for both club and country over the course of 2023 so far. Emery has built a strong unit in midfield with John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara being one of the best engine rooms in the entire Premier League. Jacob Ramsey is waiting patiently in the wings to get his chance and the youngster looks set to be a future star for the club when that chance comes along.

Ramsey could benefit from having another talented young midfield player in the club alongside him to grow together as a partnership. Matsuki could be that man with the 20-year-old already being seen as one of the top players in his division in the country. He represented Japan at the Under-20s World Cup in the summer and has also made the step-up to Under-23 level.

The Japanese midfield talent likes to control the tempo of games from the middle of the park with energetic performances and this would even fit into the brand of football the current Aston Villa manager looks to employ. This season as per FotMob, Matsuki is averaging a match rating of 7.43 in the Japanese top-flight, with his stand-out performance coming against Cerezo Osaka when he netted the only goal in a 1-0 win. The midfielder recorded his highest rating of an 8.6, doing so by completing 75% of his dribbles, and making seven passes into the final third - the kind of progressive deep-lying midfielder Emery would appreciate. Not only that, but Matsuki also showed off his defensive awareness in the game, making a game-high ten recoveries and completing 100% of his tackles, proving he can do both sides of the game well.

The Villans are flying in the Premier League as they look to push on from their qualification for Europa Conference League football. The club's involvement in continental competitions could be a big benefit for a young player such as Matsuki coming in as there will be lots of games and plenty of opportunities to get some game time.

Daiju Sasaki

Should Emery look to bring in a slightly more experienced midfield player than Matsuki, he may have to look no further than Sasaki at Villa's new partner club, Vissel Kobe. The club find themselves top of the J-League after 30 games and the 24-year-old has been an important part of that with his energy in midfield being a driving force in the side. Sasaki has a brilliant first touch and is great on the half-turn which is a skill that looks very effortless but is hard to master.

He always looks to be direct and get into the box which has become a trait of both McGinn and Luiz under Emery so the vision of where Sasaki could fit into the team is growing clearer. The Villa squad is increasing over time but the midfield isn't completely stacked in terms of options with Youri Tielemans and Ramsey being the most notable back-up players at the current moment.

As is the case with the other players on this list, it would not take a massive transfer fee to bring the midfield maestro into the club and Aston Villa have become a very wealthy Premier League side over the past few years. The new relationship with Vissel Kobe would make the deal a lot easier to complete also. Seven goals and two assists from 29 appearances this season is a very strong return for a midfield player and the guidance of Emery has been shown to get the best out of every player, so significant improvement could be made with the 24-year-old.