Cerezo Osaka made a late night announcement that they completed a permanent transfer for Spanish defender Osmar from FC Seoul.
Osmar transfer to Cerezo Osaka was already a matter of time especially after he was spotted at Cerezo’s Maishima training ground this morning, wearing the official training kits, but surprised fans in some way. Of course announcing at 11pm was one of them but what surprised us (and probably FC Seoul fans) the most was that they signed him on a permanent deal. Every rumor so far, both in Japan and South Korea, was saying it would be a loan transfer as far as I know.
At almost the same time, Ricardo’s name was deleted from the official website, strongly implying that his future will not be with the club anymore, although I am still not sure whether he will leave right now or some months later (The latter will be the case I guess but I am not sure).
ついにリカルドがいなくなった。 pic.twitter.com/xr2fjcIG8K
— キルシュ (@Kirsch_CRZ) February 21, 2018
Great signing for Cerezo, always looked imperious whenever I saw Seoul play. Quite a few foreigners on the books though. How do they juggle Kim, Jonjic, Osmar, Souza and Yang, with only 4 allowed in a matchday squad? https://t.co/RdKICdHyMH
— Sam Robson (@FRsoccerSam) February 21, 2018
Now Cerezo have 6 foreign players in their squad: Kim Jin-Hyeon, Souza, Matej Jonjic, Yang Dong-Hyun, Osmar, plus Chaowat who is from J.League’s associated country so doesn’t need extra foreign player spot. As I wrote before, only 3 foreign players and 1 Asian player can be registered for a match. Therefore, Osmar needs to compete with Jonjic or Souza to gain his place in a matchday squad. It’s a healthy competition as long as he correctly understands the situation (of course I think he does) and decided to join Cerezo. In other words, now Cerezo have a good alternative they can choose when either player loses his form. As to ACL, the registration was already finished so Osmar isn’t allowed to play in the group stage.
Welcome to Cerezo Osaka, Osmar!
Correction added at 11:40, February 22, 2018
Cerezo Osaka corrected their announcement of Osmar transfer, which was first announced as a permanent deal, but actuary is a loan move. It is a well-known fact that there are often mistakes found on their official website, but I’ve never seen such a huge mistake. The team is getting better and better since the last year but the club isn’t, it seems.