After breaking the news that Shinji Kagawa will sign for United, subject to a medical and work permit, ManUtd.com spoke to Japanese football journalist Koki Harada, of Tokyo Chunichi Sports, about the exciting midfielder…
Was United’s interest in Shinji one of football’s worst-kept secrets?
I guess it was. The speculation has been all over the English and Japanese media for weeks and many fans have been waiting for the transfer to happen. Now it’s been confirmed and everyone in Japan will be really excited. There have been Japanese players in the Premier League in the past – Junichi Inamoto at Fulham, Hidetoshi Nakata at Bolton and, last season, Ryo Miyaichi at Bolton. But United is a bigger club than those and Kagawa has the potential to be a big star.
What sort of player is Kagawa and is he like any of the current United squad?
United have no similar players. He’s a bit like Samir Nasri or Luka Modric and creates lots of chances, but scores more goals than either of them. His best position is just behind the striker, where he played at Dortmund, but he can also play on the left, though he’s not the quickest of players. I can see Sir Alex tinkering with his formation to play him in a 4-3-2-1. It’s brilliant that he’ll get the chance to work with a wonderful midfielder like Paul Scholes.
What kind of success did he have at Dortmund?
He adapted very quickly after moving to Germany from the J-League in 2010 and has been instrumental in helping them to back-to-back Bundesliga titles, particularly in last season’s Double triumph. He’s shown a very high level of performance there.
