Japanese striker Mao Hosoya (22-Kashiwa Reysol) has been recommended to AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), ranked 31st in the 2023-24 UEFA Club Rankings, as a player to consider signing.
On Aug. 8 (KST), the Dutch ‘Subskamer Scout’ said, “I told Alkmaar that Hosoya is worth watching. He has the potential to be a top-class player.” The Dutch summer transfer market closes on September 1.
Subskamer Scouts is a soccer talent agency founded in 2011 in Groningen, the Netherlands. The Netherlands is ranked fifth in the European league.
Hosoya was recognized as one of Japan’s brightest prospects with the 2022 J1 League Young Player Award. The same year, he made his national A-match debut in a 0-0 draw against China at the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship.
“The question (of whether he will leave now) remains. Hosoya could finish out the rest of the season with Kashi and Reysol and make a move to Europe in the January 2024 transfer window.”
Fifth-year scout Marc Pineu (Portugal) compared Hosoya to French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe (25-Paris Saint-Germain), citing the similarities of being a “5-foot-11 center forward.
Pigne is in charge of youth scouting in East Asia. “Hosoya being called the ‘Mbappe of Japan’ has some significance (though not a lot). Their speed is similar,” he explains.
“Not all professional players have attacking instincts,” says Pigne, who emphasizes Hosoya’s natural talent as a forward, “and technically he will be a valuable asset to Japanese soccer.”
“We usually recommend that Japanese players go to Belgium,” Pigne said, “but Hosoya can also play in the English Premier League or the German Bundesliga, where he can make the most of his strengths and get good chances.”안전놀이터
Belgium is ranked eighth in the EPL, England first, and Germany fourth. “Augsburg (Germany) could make a move for Hosoya, either by giving him a chance to prove himself or by signing him and sending him out on a one-year loan to another team,” Pigneau predicted.