Grampus Cut Yamaguche, Hirono and Niikawa

Nagoya have announced that they will not be renewing the contracts of three players. Midfield dynamo Kei Yamaguchi, goalie Koichi Hirono and young striker Oribe Niikawa.

Yamaguchi is a bit of a surprise, since he has been a regular and dependable squad player for the last two or three years. However, he has failed to develop into a key player, and should have no problem finding a new club. Young Oribe has failed to demonstrate a consistent goal-scoring touch, even for the satellite team, and is another player (like Yohei Toyoda) who may find J2 a happier hunting ground.

As predicted, here when Toru Hasegawa broke into the first team, Hirono is simply a victim of Hasegawa's progress this season. The young (still only 20-years old) keeper may not be quite ready for the first team, but has improved sufficiently to be considered a reasonable third choice keeper. Koichi will be much better off at a club where he may may get more playing time.