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© Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Gamba loans Usami to Bayern Munich
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rockbuster
Interesting that it is a loan and not a full transfer. Unless there is a fee attached to this loan deal, I'm not sure what good it does for Gamba. If I were in Gamba's shoes, I would have held out for a full transfer, especially after having lost Adriano already. Bayern might not take up the option of signing him, and in that scenario Gamba would have lost one of their best players for the season.
Having said that, I think Usami will make it in the Bundesliga. He's technically very good, clever, always seems to have time on the ball and can pick a final pass. He's not a striker in the traditional sense of the word, more of an attacking playmaker. At Gamba he has Adriano, Hirai and Lee Keun-Ho to occupy defenders, therefore getting a lot of space in front of opposing defences. He's going to be under the microscope a lot more than Kagawa was, who exploded on to the scene and above all expectations, but if he lets his football do the talking and is patient I'm sure he will do well.
BoratLikeBarry
Yeah, good player but as rockbuster says, strange to see they took a loan. As good as he is, I can't see a 19-year old player with little experience setting the Budesliga on fire in his first 6 months. That will most likely push his transfer fee down if Bayern decide to go for him. Bad business for Gamba, but maybe they'll be getting something in return. Good luck to Usami though - yet another promising young player produced by Japan.
Hide Suzuki
I also noticed J-league teams are just not very good at negotiations. Young talented players always sign with J-league team with the condition that they have an option to go to European team. It''s great that they understand the players' desire to go to a more competitive team but they should get some money.