Cerezo Osaka ended the summer transfer window after just releasing 3 players and acquiring none. Here I provide you a summary of their activity during the window.
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As they have been in a good form so far, one of the problems they had is that there were players who had quality but didn’t have enough appearances. During the summer transfer window, some of them decided to part way with Cerezo, although in the form of loans.
Shohei Kiyohara left for J2 side Tokushima Vortis, while Kenta Mukuhara headed to J1 side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. To me, the latter move was the most surprising one. Mukuhara’s departure itself wasn’t surprising at all, it was just a matter of time. But he has had few playing opportunities and mainly played in J3 so far, so I didn’t imagine he would attract an offer from a J1 team.
Other than them, Mitsuru Maruoka joined J2 side V-Varen Nagasaki. This is to give him more experience and he, not the same as the two players mentioned above, is likely to come back again after his loan spell finishes at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, after experienced midfielder Chikashi Masuda declined an offer from Cerezo to join Shimizu S-Pulse, they didn’t sign any player despite the apparent need for it. Actually the need for some new signings increased during this term as one of their key players Kazuya Yamamura got injured.
Takaki Fukumitsu is likely to fill in the place left by Yamamura’s injury, at least as to this weekend. While Fukumitsu is believed to have enough quality, no signing means they didn’t solve the biggest problem they have had, namely the thinness of their squad. Wy they didn’t do anything in the summer isn’t certain. It might be because they didn’t have enough money, or might be because adequate players weren’t available. Either way, how does the lack of new signings affect their chance to assume top places in the league? I’m just wishing no more injuries will happen.