Yutaro Oda reveals the recent influx of Japanese stars to the SPFL had him convinced a move to Hearts was for him.
And it helped he already knew one of them as Celtic's Yuki Kobayashi was a childhood friend. Oda made the move from Vissel Kobe last month and becomes the latest in an ever-growing list of Japanese stars to make the jump to Scotland. Ryotaro Meshino became a cult hero at Hearts after a loan from Manchester City in 2019, while Ange Postecoglou made use of his knowledge of the market by signing six players from Japan in his 18 months at Parkhead.
Motherwell also got in on the act with the signing of Riku Danzaki and Oda says the familiar faces helped him settle in. He told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Of course I knew Hearts before I signed because Ryotaro Meshino was here. That’s why I knew about the club. There are so many Japanese players playing in Scotland, especially in Glasgow, so I knew about the club and the league.
Oda also revealed Kobayashi, who he knows from school, brought Kyogo, Reo Hatate and co to Edinburgh to greet him and show him the ropes. He went on: “Kobayashi played with me since we were in junior high school so I know him. They all came to Edinburgh and we went to a Japanese restaurant. They are senior to me so they taught me a lot of things about Scotland.
"I feel people are speaking English so fast. I can’t understand. The Scottish accent is so strong but first of all I have to understand what English is.”
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