Perth Glory is delighted to announce that attacking midfielder/striker Ryo Nagai has rejoined the club on a season-long loan from J-League outfit, Cerezo Osaka.
Perth Glory is delighted to announce that attacking midfielder/striker Ryo Nagai has rejoined the club on a season-long loan from J-League outfit, Cerezo Osaka.
The former Japan Under-20 international made 17 appearances for Glory last season, scoring two goals and played a key role in the club’s late surge into the finals.
His pace, flair and fine close control quickly established the 22-year-old as a favourite with the nib Stadium faithful and Glory Head Coach Alistair Edwards is confident that the man from Hyogo will provide plenty more excitement during the 2013-2014 Hyundai A-League campaign.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve managed to bring Ryo back to the club for the whole of next season,” he said.
“Ryo finished last season extremely well and became very much a crowd favourite.
“From the time myself and Gareth (Naven) came in, he improved with each game.
“He’s very versatile and can play wide on the right or left and also down the middle and he’s so well thought of here at Glory.
“He’s become one of the family and everyone loves him.
“The players have so much respect for him, he’s a great guy to have around and he’s very exciting to watch.
“Ryo himself loves it here and he’s the one who really pushed for the move.
“I explained the situation to him and he really wanted to come back.
“He knows it’s a great place for him to be at this stage of his football development and he loves life in Perth as well.
“During my discussions with people within the WA football community, I was asked so many times whether Ryo was coming back, so it’s great to be able to say that he is and he’ll be with us right through until the end of the season.”
Nagai returned to Perth from Japan earlier this week and will join his team-mates for pre-season training on Friday.
Gareth Morgan
