Krishna Sadhana
Football Tribe SEA Editor
After renewing Brazilian midfielder Rafinha’s contract, Persela Lamongan have announced their second foreign player for the upcoming 2020 Liga 1 Indonesia season. Also plying his trade as a midfielder, this foreign player is none other than Shunsuke Nakamura of Japan. But don’t get too excited – this is not the Celtic and Yokohama F. Marinos legend Nakamura that we’re talking about here.
Sharing the same name and position as his already established counterpart, this Nakamura is still 25-years old, compared to the worldwide renowned Nakamura who has already reached the ripe old age of 41 at his current club, newly promoted J.League 1 side Yokohama FC. Like the famous Nakamura, Persela’s Nakamura had plied his trade in Europe before, but unlike the renowned Nakamura who had turned out for Italian side Reggina, Scottich giants Celtic, and La Liga outfit RCD Espanyol, Persela’s Nakamura had represented Qrendi FC and Pieta Hotspurs in Malta, as well as Valmiera Glass ViA in the Latvian top flight. The younger Nakamura had represented Valmiera a total of 30 times last season, as the perennial underachievers of Latvian football achieved their highest ever position of 4th on the 2019 Virsliga table, thus qualifying for European football in the 2020-21 season as a result.
It is hoped that the younger Nakamura would replicate the impressive performances of Kei Hirose in the Persela midfield from last season. Like the younger Nakamura, Hirose is a relative unknown when he first arrived at the Laskar Joko Tingkir, having represented Lija Athletic and Mosta in the Maltese league prior to his arrival in Indonesia. But Hirose later cemented himself as one of Liga 1’s best players of the 2019 season, having represented Persela in all of their 34 matches tirelessly. His superb workrate and tenacity earned him the admiration of the Persela fanbase and all of his hard work paid off at the end of the 2019 season as he earned himself a big move to Liga Super Malaysia giants Johor Darul Ta’zim, albeit playing for the club’s reserve team in the Liga Premier Malaysia, Johor Darul Ta’zim II.
With both Rafinha and the younger Nakamura in the bag, Persela continues their search for new players for the upcoming 2020 season, with Dutch defensive midfielder Barry Maguire, last seen donning the colors of Singapore Premier League side Geylang International, being taken into the club underneath a trial contract, where he will try to impress Persela head coach Nil Maizar and his coaching staff for a permanent contract.
