Rumoured Yoshinori Muto

[Spike 12,049]

I don't like it when people say players like Muto would sell shirts in Asia. If I were Filippino, Chinese, or even Korean, I'd be really less inclined to buy shirts or start supporting a club with a Japanese player. Because you know....of all that nastiness that happened at the first half of the 20th century.

I don't know how much of the Japanese market is open to supporting a foreign team (I get the feeling it isn't) but if Muto is a good player then he is a good player and good players are always welcome.

[zolayes 14,489]

I don't like it when people say players like Muto would sell shirts in Asia. If I were Filippino, Chinese, or even Korean, I'd be really less inclined to buy shirts or start supporting a club with a Japanese player. Because you know....of all that nastiness that happened at the first half of the 20th century.

I don't know how much of the Japanese market is open to supporting a foreign team (I get the feeling it isn't) but if Muto is a good player then he is a good player and good players are always welcome.

I believe sales of our shirts in Egypt have slumped and it will cause problems with FFP

[David88 3]

Jose pretty much laid it out in the press conference, this fella is a Yokohama signing. Whatever doesn't really matter, the thing that we need to look at now is getting our hg quota up so we have a full roster of 25 players.

he actually did not say that at all, but some people here are trying to get on their confirmation bias I guess. He hinted at the fact that there is obviously a clear commercial benefit\aspect on the operation, but also stressed that the club would not sign a player whose quality is in discussion.

Kind of suprising that out of all the asian players, he was the one to get signed....

It has to be a yokohama move, because they're already a few guys in germany that are established and better, yet this guy gets chosen.

I don't think that it's surprising actually, we are talking about a prospect, not a player bought to compete with Eden or whatever. It's true, Chelsea could have gone for a more popular player like Kiyotake, etc, but don't forget that those players would not be happy at all to be loaned out if José decides so, or rot on the bench, so there is no guarantee that they'd sign.

Muto, if he accepts, probably knows perfectly that his chances to see first team football are slim to none. I don't think he is even VISA eligible. The club will loan him out, and we'll find out if he really has potential to be a squad member in the next years, or will be resold.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

he actually did not say that at all, but some people here are trying to get on their confirmation bias I guess. He hinted at the fact that there is obviously a clear commercial benefit\aspect on the operation, but also stressed that the club would not sign a player whose quality is in discussion.

I don't think that it's surprising actually, we are talking about a prospect, not a player bought to compete with Eden or whatever. It's true, Chelsea could have gone for a more popular player like Kiyotake, etc, but don't forget that those players would not be happy at all to be loaned out if José decides so, or rot on the bench, so there is no guarantee that they'd sign.

Muto, if he accepts, probably knows perfectly that his chances to see first team football are slim to none. I don't think he is even VISA eligible. The club will loan him out, and we'll find out if he really has potential to be a squad member in the next years, or will be resold.

Oh come on that is bullshit. A player signing should benefit a club in footballing terms not commercially. If we aren't big in Asia find another way to improve our fanbase there, I'd rather have a good enough player who can make it here in a few years or compete already than someone signed to entirely boost the profile of the club in another country. People say our youth system is pointless but if we are signing players to benefit us commercially then the chances of a young guy coming through is even slimmer than what it was before because eventually players aren't going to come here to go on loan to Vitesse or that for 2-3 years, they will want to be part of the squad then it seems even more and more pointless.

We've signed poor players before like Ben Haim, Marin, Wallace, Zhirkov, Torres etc so for Jose to say that a players we are signings quality is never in discussion or whatever is ridiculous he knows the clubs transfer history has not always been a roaring success in the past.

[Yeboii 1,844]

We've signed poor players before like Ben Haim, Marin, Wallace, Zhirkov, Torres

Way to early to judge Wallace as he is quite promising IMO. He just wasn't played at all at Inter.

[nyikolajevics 2,422]

We've signed poor players before like Ben Haim, Marin, Wallace, Zhirkov, Torres

What is common in these players? I don't see the logic.. Ben Haim was a good investment, Marin is a very talented but injury prone player, Wallace is still 20 years old only, Zhirkov was pretty good, Torres was a huge flop but he is not a 'poor player'.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

What is common in these players? I don't see the logic.. Ben Haim was a good investment, Marin is a very talented but injury prone player, Wallace is still 20 years old only, Zhirkov was pretty good, Torres was a huge flop but he is not a 'poor player'.

I'm not judging these players on what they did for other clubs, I'm judging them on what they've done/did for us. All poor players for us, although perhaps Wallace's inclusion is harsh but like McEachran sitting on the bench for Vitesse, points to one way and that is the exit door.

[David88 3]

Oh come on that is bullshit. A player signing should benefit a club in footballing terms not commercially.

And that's exactly what Josè said. There wouldn't be space at Chelsea for a player that is no benefit to the club. The fact that it benefits it commercially too, is just a win-win situation.

Do people really think that Yokohama decided the player? Don't make me laugh, that's disrespectful towards Chelsea, the coach, and the management.

Milan signed Honda, and it gave them a nice commercial boost. He also happens to be a gifted player.

You're the one making up that he's a crappy player, in case you haven't realized. Which is what José was quick to point out

If we aren't big in Asia find another way to improve our fanbase there, I'd rather have a good enough player who can make it here in a few years or compete already than someone signed to entirely boost the profile of the club in another country. People say our youth system is pointless but if we are signing players to benefit us commercially then the chances of a young guy coming through is even slimmer than what it was before because eventually players aren't going to come here to go on loan to Vitesse or that for 2-3 years, they will want to be part of the squad then it seems even more and more pointless.

We've signed poor players before like Ben Haim, Marin, Wallace, Zhirkov, Torres etc so for Jose to say that a players we are signings quality is never in discussion or whatever is ridiculous he knows the clubs transfer history has not always been a roaring success in the past.

You say "I'd rather have a good enough player" but then you say "who can make it here in a few years" - and that's Muto, not Kagawa or the other european based. They're not 20 years old. In regards to a player who can compete already, well that's a fan's point of view I guess. Most fans don't care about young talent, they like the finished product. But clubs would be running to the ground if every board reasoned just like this. It's not a sustainable model. There were probably no conditions to get an established player, or the board simply decided that there is more upswing in bringing a player with potential.

Again, "someone signed to entirely boost the profile of the club in another country" is your made up stuff.

If we had a Brazilian sponsor and Muto was called Mutinho and he had a fanbase in Brazil, we wouldn't be having this discussion probably.

As for your last sentence, none of them was "a poor player", and it's not like Mourinho was here forever. Nobody has the crystal ball though, do you know any club that hasn't signed good players who turned out to be not as good as hoped. That's football. Even if we got an estabilished player (like Torres) it could go wrong. So what's the problem. All I'm sayin' is, don't be knee-jerk

[Spike 12,049]

I think a Dutch player should be signed to tap into the European market. Shirt sales will sky rocket in Lithuania and Macedonia.

[Spike 12,049]

Why do people think that signing a Japanese player will make the club more popular in Japan? Timmy Cahill is one of my all time favourite players and I don't support Everton.

Do a lot of the American users on here support Everton because of Donovan and Howard? Do they support Fulham because of Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis?

[David88 3]

I think that, to an extent, it is true that for many japanese there is a certain pride when a player gets to a big club, so a few might become "fan" of it. But the reality is that they are fan of Muto, and if tomorrow he changes team, they aren't Chelsea fans anymore. So it doesn't make any difference in the end, at best they'd pick up his shirt.

However, I laugh when people take out the myth of the shirt sales. If Muto gets loaned out - and that's very likely considering the visa issue, or spends time outside the bench, I can guarantee Chelsea is not going to see any considerable revenue from shirt sales. Let's be realistic.

[We Hate Scouse 10,260]

Why do people think that signing a Japanese player will make the club more popular in Japan? Timmy Cahill is one of my all time favourite players and I don't support Everton.

Do a lot of the American users on here support Everton because of Donovan and Howard? Do they support Fulham because of Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis?

Culture.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Why do people think that signing a Japanese player will make the club more popular in Japan? Timmy Cahill is one of my all time favourite players and I don't support Everton.

Do a lot of the American users on here support Everton because of Donovan and Howard? Do they support Fulham because of Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis?

Examples don't prove or disprove something like this. It is completely illogical to imply so. You can point to literally millions of Egyptians who suddenly became Chelsea fans when we signed Salah and then left with him or how our fan-base in Belgium exploded after Hazard and co. I support Sacramento Kings in the NBA because my uncle who used to live in California when I was little supported them because they were owned by a Lebanese business man. Does that mean that the assumption is both true and false?! Human behavior, especially in groups and communities, is too complicated to be analyzed in this manner.

[Spike 12,049]

Examples don't prove or disprove something like this. It is completely illogical to imply so. You can point to literally millions of Egyptians who suddenly became Chelsea fans when we signed Salah and then left with him or how our fan-base in Belgium exploded after Hazard and co. I support Sacramento Kings in the NBA because my uncle who used to live in California when I was little supported them because they were owned by a Lebanese business man. Does that mean that the assumption is both true and false?! Human behavior, especially in groups and communities, is too complicated to be analyzed in this manner.

So it is okay to assume that it will increase popularity but not okay to assume that it won't? Kay.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

So it is okay to assume that it will increase popularity but not okay to assume that it won't? Kay.

Read again. I'm saying it's not okay to assume either based solely on previous examples with very faint similarities. Kay, baby-boy? xoxo

[Spike 12,049]

Read again. I'm saying it's not okay to assume either based solely on previous examples with very faint similarities. Kay, baby-boy? xoxo

ANd yet I was the only one you decided to quote...

[iseah100 5,612]

Why do people think that signing a Japanese player will make the club more popular in Japan? Timmy Cahill is one of my all time favourite players and I don't support Everton.

Do a lot of the American users on here support Everton because of Donovan and Howard? Do they support Fulham because of Clint Dempsey, Marcus Hahnemann and Eddie Lewis?

Mexicans like Man u more cause of Chicharo. It happens man, I'm sure we'll get quite a bit of Asian fans if we sign him.

[Spike 12,049]

Mexicans like Man u more cause of Chicharo. It happens man, I'm sure we'll get quite a bit of Asian fans if we sign him.

Why would the rest of Asia support Chelsea because of a Japanese player?

Japan is not equal to an entire continent.