Japan national team defender Ito Hiroki's transfer to Bayern Munich was announced on the 14th (Japan time).
Since the possibility of his joining was reported on the 13th, the transfer took a sudden turn. He will be the next Japanese player to take on a big club, following in the footsteps of Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal) and Wataru Endo (Liverpool), and Japanese soccer fans have been thrilled.
So why did Bayern decide to acquire Ito? Let's take a look at the reasons.
This is the third Japanese player to join Bayern, following Takashi Usami and Taichi Fukui. However, what makes him different from Usami and Fukui is his age. Usami and Fukui joined Bayern when they were teenagers, and the club decided to acquire them based on their future potential, while Ito is currently 25 years old. He has already played three seasons in the Bundesliga, and is one of the league's representative players, ranking 6th in the average score throughout the season in the German magazine Kicker in the 2023-24 season.
There is no doubt that he will join as a regular player, but he is not guaranteed a place in the starting lineup at Bayern. His profile as a left-footed player who can play both CB and SB is highly evaluated, as is clear from the comment by sporting director Christoph Freund that "he can play both left and center, so he is versatile in defence" (Kristof Freund), and the club's intention to have him flexibly play two positions is clear.
However, if there is one thing Ito already has better than Bayern's defense, it is his build-up ability. In the 2023-24 season, Bayern's passing in the back has always been shaky, and they have fallen prey to high pressure on numerous occasions.
Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae are strong against each other, but their build-up ability is not particularly high, and they have been involved in conceding goals in big matches. Eric Dier is good at feeding, but his simple defensive ability is inferior to others. Even left-back Alphonso Davies tends to rely on his physical ability and is not good at passing in the back.
In that respect, Ito's stability is a big attraction. As the only left-footed CB, he can be expected to distribute the ball from the back. The tendency of new manager Vincent Kompany to create a possession-based team is also a positive factor for Ito.
■ Personnel cuts also have an impact
There is a strong view in the German media that Bayern acquired Ito in consideration of the impact this will have on their personnel cuts.
For Bayern, who finished the 2023-24 season without a title for the first time in 12 years, the new season will be a year of recovery. The appointment of Kompany as manager is one of them, and looking at the defense, it is difficult to find a player who is not rumored to be released. Even Matthijs de Ligt, one of the team's best tacklers and popular with supporters, is reportedly a possibility of being sold.
It is already highly likely that Davis will leave the club this summer or next summer, so Ito's arrival is useful in that respect. In addition, Ito's transfer fee, including bonuses, is reported to be a maximum of 28 million euros (about 4.72 billion yen), making it a relatively good deal for Bayern.
■The role model we should follow is...
Even if Bayern acquires Ito, there is still a possibility that Leverkusen's defender Jonathan Tah will join, which is also evidence that they will release a defender in the future. It is not certain whether Ito will be placed at the center of the defense when that happens, but there is already a role model to follow.
That player is Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan), who played for the club from 2019 to 2023. Like Ito, he joined from Stuttgart, and the transfer fee was roughly the same (Pavard's estimated at 35 million euros), and they also share the ability to play as both CB and SB.
Pavard was met with some scepticism after arriving from Stuttgart, who had recently been relegated to the second division, but he proved to be a reliable player at every level, making no mistakes and establishing himself as a regular at right-back, helping the club win the treble in his first season.
Given these precedents, Ito's transfer was a logical decision that even an outsider could understand. If he can bring back the stability that Bayern lost in the back and bring back the title to the team, Ito's transfer will be remembered as an excellent addition at the end of the season.
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