East Asia Japan

Hashioka Lands Sint-Truiden Loan Move

Urawa Red Diamonds defender Daiki Hashioka became the latest J.League player to make the switch to European football as he has secured himself a loan deal to Belgian Pro League side Sint-Truidense V.V. on Sunday. He will join compatriots Yuma Suzuki, Ko Matsubara, Keito Nakamura, Daniel Schmidt, and Tatsuya Ito at the Limburg Province-based club, who are backed by Japanese Internet conglomerate DMM.com. 

A product of Urawa’s youth academy, Hashioka has became a bright spot in the club’s turbulent recent times, showing off impressive performances as he guided Urawa to the 2019 AFC Champions League silver medal. Despite his spritely young age at 21 years old, Hashioka has shown himself to be a very reliable player and he has performed admirably and solidly when called upon, which earned Hashioka two caps for the Japan national team including his debut for the Samurai Blue in 2019.

Hashioka’s performances did not go unnoticed and a move to the European leagues was on the cards for this youngster to further develop his career and on Sunday that move came true.

Urawa announced on their social media channels that they have officially loaned Hashioka out to Sint-Truiden, starting from January 30th 2021 until June 30th 2022. Hashioka will join a Sint-Truiden side who has recently sacked former Melbourne Victory head coach Kevin Muscat from his post, with the team languishing at 14th in the 18-team Belgian Pro League season. Other than the aforementioned Japanese players, Hashioka’s new teammates will include South Korean rising star Lee Seung-woo, New Zealander wonderkid Liberato Cacace, and Haiti international Duckens Nazon.

In his parting words before his departure to Belgium, Hashioka thanked everyone at Urawa, ranging from his coaches, teammates, the club’s staff members, and also the Saitama Prefecture-based club’s fans for their constant support towards him throughout his tenure at the Saitama Stadium 2002.