Leeds United fans won’t have heard much about Yasuke Ideguchi but the Gamba Osaka midfielder is rated very highly in Japan.
It appears the identity of Victor Orta’s ‘surprise’ Asian target has been revealed. According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, the player Leeds United’s director of football was referring to in a Facebook Q&A is Gamba Osaka midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi.
Now, the 21-year-old is hardly a household name but, considering that a vast number of Orta’s impressive summer signings were relative unknowns before making the summer switch to Elland Road, Leeds fans should back the transfer guru to get it right once again.
Particularly when you consider how highly-rated Ideguchi is in his homeland. The youngster already has three international caps to his name and a goal to boot in an impressive 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Australia that sealed Japan’s place at next summer’s festival of football in Russia.
It’s fair to say Ideguchi is a popular player back home right now.
Though it’s not only recently that his talent has caught the eye. After a stellar 2016, Ideguchi was named the J-League’s Rookie of the Year, a prestigious award given to the best newcomer each season.
He was the first Gamba Osaka player since one-time Bayern Munich prodigy Takashi Usami to win the award in 2010.
In fact, a move to Europe has seemed an inevitably for one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from Japanese football in recent seasons. And Leeds United, a club that appears to get the best out of the young talent at its disposal, may be the ideal place for Ideguchi to prove his worth in the West.
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