RAYO VALLECANO
Rayo U-18s set to blossom with Yuya Yoshimura on board
The 18-year-old joins on a free transfer and can play either as a winger or deep-lying forward. Fellow Japanese players at the club include Marika Oshima and Fumi Goto.
Yuya Yoshimura won't be the first Japanese player at Rayo Femenino but she is the first to join the youth team. The 18-year-old came to Spain to study the language, had a trial with the Franjirrojos and impressed them so much that they decided to sign her for the Under-18s side. Yuya (27-3-1998) arrived on a free transfer from Seisa High School and one quality which impress Rayo's technical staff was her versatility: naturally left-footed, she is comfortable player out wide or as a deep-lying forward. Coaches at Rayo youth academy describe her as: "fast, nimble with noteworthy technique".
Rayo's women's team have had Japanese players on their roster - the most recent was midfielder Marika Oshim who arrived in Vallecas at the end of 2015. It's worth remembering that Rayo Vallecano made the pioneer move of bringing full-back Fumi Goto (2010-11) to the club to become the first Japanese player to play in the Superliga femenina.
Yuya Yoshimura sakka senshu has got plenty of examples to draw on for inspiration here in Spain. Compatriot Takashi Inui is Eibar's most expensive signing and one of the Armeros' star players. Takashi is the only Japanese player in the top flight during the current season but before him, there were many others such as: Nobuyuki Zaizen (Logroñés, 96-97), Shöji Jö (Valladolid, 00-01), Akinori Nishizawa (Espanyol, 00-01), Yoshito Okubo (Mallorca, 04-05), Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol, 09-10), Akihiro Ienaga (Mallorca, 10-11), Hiroshi Ibusuki (Sevilla, 11-12) and Mike Havenaar (Córdoba, 14-15).