Southampton sign Japanese striker, but who is it?

Of course we know who it is, as the club would not have announced it otherwise, it is Japanese forward Tandanari Lee from Sanfrecce Hiroshima for a free transfer. Yes, exactly, you’re not overly familiar with him are you, so let me take this opportunity to fill you in on the boy from Japan who will be trusted to add more fire to the Saint’s promotion push.

26 year old Lee has been tracked by Southampton for a while and now all of that pesky paperwork has been sorted out; the forward was free find a pen and sign a two-and-a-half year deal with the south coast club. With the option of another year if he decides he likes the area and I can’t comment on that because I’ve never ventured to those parts.

Well, that doesn’t bring us any closer to finding out more about why Nigel Adkins has been so persistent in his quest to sail/fly/drive or even smuggle this much coveted striker from the J-League, we don’t know how he got here and the method of transport is irrelevant.

All we know is that the Saints have manage to get ahead of whole host of top flight European clubs to snaffle the striker who has scored 31 goals in two years for the J-League club including 15 from 33 appearances in the last campaign for Sanfrecce who have encountered financial trouble and were left with no option but to let their shining light go.

Lee, who is rather cutely known in native lands as the “purple archer” has stated that the motive for his move is to improve his game in order to remain a part of the plans for the Japanese national team ahead of the 2014 World Cup. He has just broken into the squad and was granted special dispensation over his work permit after earning 10 out of 11 caps for the Samurai Blue in 2011, as well as hitting a scoring a screaming volley against Australia to fire them to victory in the Asian Cup final. Trust me, watch it on Youtube and look at the defending.

With the forward now registered and all the small print having been ironed out, Lee, who has taken the number 19 shirt, could be unleashed straight away in the FA Cup tie with Millwall at the weekend as Southampton are turning Japanese they really think so.

Both club and player have been enthusiastic about the move and it is heart-warming to see such niceties being shared “I was made very welcome when I came to Southampton a few weeks ago, it is like a family here and everyone was very kind to me. I got such a warm feeling from being here because everyone is so friendly” said Lee while Adkins glowed, “He has a good attitude about him… and I have no doubts that he will settle in quickly because he has been made to feel very welcome by everyone at the club.”

Ah, isn’t that nice, without wanting to be patronising of course. However it is fair to say that Southampton have pulled off a fair piece of business if they can get Mr. Lee to replicate his J-League form over in these shores. He may be the best Asian export since Bruce.

@AdamGray1250

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