He's a box to box / MF similar to Klich. Could get more goals, but his assists cannot be faulted and he gets stuck in and commands his space. In fact he has a great pass on him, he's fast and a good dribbler.
He's got to be the Kamara replacement (box to box ball carrier, inside left to Amps on the inside right, looking for the pass on to the FWs) - will give Gruev competition.
Whilst sticking with Dusseldorf, he has not been dropped by the national side, he's always in the squad and plays 70% of the time.
He came through Kawasaki Frontale youth team from junior school age, same team and same high school as Mitoma, they're best mates. Kawasaki were like Man City at his time there, always won the league, massive youth set up.
Japanese Leeds fans are showing caution, not because they have doubts about his ability, they just they know how demanding it is at Leeds. They tend to not go all in, culturally they need him to prove he's good enough before they put their name behind him. They don't want him to be heralded as the next big thing, as that might set the expectations too high. They feel burned by Ideguchi and think this is could be the final chance to get one of their lads in the side. Because of this, they are not using his real name in kanji on twitter, they're calling him "blue" as Ao means blue. They want him to have the right landing, earn his shirt like anyone else without any fuzz or fanfare. A very Japanese way.
Japanese neutrals are asking, why not another Bundesliga side? And are also flagging that Brighton got their lad from Celtic injured, so why not there? To be honest I don't know why a bigger club hasn't come in for him. Maybe the pull of the Prem is helping Leeds. As mentioned, him and Mitoma have been in the same team since being nippers, so maybe they've talked? Also, he will now be 1 or 6 Japanese players in the Championship. I think the strategy has shifted on the Japan side to; get in the Championship, get seen, easier to hit the Prem.
My own view: You don't make it at Kawasaki without having something about you, he's been there since 6, he's done a spell in the Bundesliga and Eredivision. He has a great work rate. He could be as good as Klich, if not better with the stars he will have around him. He's a full international, still in the team even as a lower league player and gets picked first XI most key matches. Japan beat Spain 2-1 and topped their group in Qatar. He played in all those matches. There's something to be potentially excited about , but like the Japanese fans, there is perhaps some need to be cautious. He's not a 10, he is not going to bang them in week in week out. He could be an 8 and if we like 120% commitment, we'll get that in spades. Japanese don't give up. He's also a nice lad in the Bamford / Aaronson mould. No big car and flashy clothes. Head down, will graft, then bugger off home in his hoodie to learn English.
