Mikitani sets ACL target

Mikitani

Rakuten owner Mikitani said at his year-end press conference that we should be targeting an ACL spot this year. He said that the signings we have made so far have strengthened the squad enough to achieve a league position higher than 4th.

It has also come to light that the club paid Kashima around 60 million yen to buy Nozawa out of the final year of his contract. That may not seem much to those of us who are used to seeing European clubs pay enormous fees for star players, but it's a lot for Vissel. In perspective, it is equivalent to Popo's annual salary last year.

Considering that our 4 big signings have all been let go from teams that have the same target, I think top 3 may be slightly unrealistic. Nevertheless, unlike in previous years, we know that our new signings CAN perform in the J.League. I think we are moving in the right direction.