The most expensive Asian football player in history: Shoya Nakajima
Nakajima’s brilliant adventure in Portugal was reflected in the next season. In the first half of the league, he played 13 games and contributed 4 goals and 5 assists. While his name was already involved in transfer rumors, an unexpected move took place.
Competing in the Qatar Stars League, Al Duhail signed an important coach for the coaching role in the first days of 2019. Rui Faria, who was Jose Mourinho’s assistant for many years in Porto, Inter, Real Madrid and Chelsea, was preparing for the first coaching experience of his career.
About a month after Faria took over the team, Al Duhail signed Shoya Nakajima for a transfer fee of 35 million euros. This was a very serious testimonial price paid for a player even in the Middle East geography, which pays astronomical wages to football players.
Except for the big three of Portugal, there was no other Portuguese club that could earn such a high income from a football player. This transfer filled Portimonense’s coffers and made Shoya Nakajima the most expensive Asian football player in history.
Shoya Nakajima’s disappointment in the Middle East
Although Nakajima’s transfer to Al Duhail created a sensational effect, it did not have the same effect on the field. After only 6 months of adventure, the Japanese football player returned to Portugal. This time his address was Dragao Stadium and he was now part of the Porto squad.
Porto bought 50% of the football player’s testimonial by paying 12 million euros to Al Duhail. However, the past one and a half season here did not please the Portuguese giant. This time Nakajima made his way to the United Arab Emirates and was loaned to Al Ain with a buy option of 40 million euros.
For the Asian Messi, the hardest days of his career passed here. He only wore the Al Ain jersey twice because he was out of the jersey for about 250 days due to a broken shin. Although he returned to Porto when the loan agreement expired, the blue-whites had already sacrificed the Japanese player.
Last summer, Nakajima returned to his club, where he spent perhaps the best days of his career. Portimonense has loaned its former player from Porto for a year. It could be a new step for a new outlet. However, nothing was the same as before and Nakajima could not give an effective performance.
Nakajima, who left Porto before the new season, took his breath in Turkey. On the last day of the transfer, the most expensive player in the history of Asian football joined Antalyaspor for free. Who knows, maybe she was a Kagawa model for Nuri Şahin. However, the first match did not go as he wanted.
Nakajima, who opened a whole new page in his career, had a dark start. The red card he saw in the 18th second of his first game in the Super League was not expected for both him and his family, who were equally excited for him. Nakajima, who has experienced many disappointments in recent years, will start everything from scratch in Antalyaspor after completing his sentence…