Japan icon Nakamura ready to take on Spain

Barcelona may have signed Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the summer but neighbours Espanyol pulled off a transfer coup of their own with the capture of Japanese star Shunsuke Nakamura from Celtic on a free transfer.

It has been hailed as the most exciting Espanyol signing since 1964 when Argentine great Alfredo di Stefano arrived at the club at the tail-end of a glittering career with Real Madrid.

An estimated 7,000 fans and 300 journalists turned up for the presentation of Japan icon Nakamura who has become a leading Japanese football export after playing in Italy, Scotland and now Spain.

“My first intention when my Celtic contract was up was to return to Japan,” Nakamura said in local Barcelona newspaper ‘Sport’.

“I had a lot of offers and I turned them down as playing in Spain was one of my dreams and something that I couldn’t pass up.”

Not many Asian footballers have come to Spain but Nakamura is well-travelled having left his homeland in 2002 to join Reggina before heading to Celtic where he won three league titles in four seasons.

“I am used to adapting to different cultures and I will do everything to fit in here,” revealed Nakamura. “The culture is different to Japan but not as much as in Scotland and Italy.

“The fans are different in every country. I have played in Scotland and Italy but I have never seen fans like here at Espanyol.”

Nakamura, 31, is a free-kick expert – famously scoring a spectacular free-kick against Manchester United in Celtic’s 1-0 Champions League group win back in 2006 – and hopes to show the Espanyol fans what he can do with his left foot.

“There is a lot of competition when it comes to taking free-kicks,” said Nakamura. “At the moment there are no left-footed free-kick takers and if it comes up I hope I can take one.

“However, my first priority to integrate with my team-mates, train hard and make sure I am a regular in the first team.”

With the 2010 World Cup around the corner, Nakamura, capped 87 times by his country, needs to be playing regularly although the midfielder insists it is too early to start thinking about the showpiece in South Africa.

“I am not thinking about the World Cup at the moment,” declared the ex-Celtic man. “I just want to play my best football for Espanyol and I know that if I don’t play well here the coach won’t use me.”

Nakamura has been handed the number 7 shirt and played his first game for the club in a 3-0 pre-season friendly win over Liverpool that inaugurated Espanyol’s new Cornella El Prat stadium.

Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino lauded Nakamura for his attitude and said he had high hopes for the upcoming season.

“We hope he can fulfill the expectations we have of him,” said Pochettino. “He is a great footballer and has shown that throughout his career.”

It is a lucrative deal for Espanyol whose profile in Japan has been elevated significantly but for Nakamura the media attention is nothing new.

“I am used to speaking with the Japanese journalists and I have no problem with them as everyone has their job to do,” he explained. “I am 31 years old and consider myself a normal person. I am family man and like to live a quiet life.

“I will live on the outskirts of the city because if not I will have a load of cameras outside my front door every day.”