Keita: Should He Stay or Should He Go?

Nagoya's erratic speedster Keita Sugimoto has still not agreed terms on a new contract. This is mainly due to the fact that the club has offered him a new contract at a much reduced salary. As a result he is said to be contemplating offers from other clubs. The question is should Nagoya let a player with such a strong lucky touch leave? Surely his decisive pinball blast in the penalty shootout against Shimizu is worth an extra million yen or two on top of the club's current offer. :-)

Sugimoto himself has said that he is willing to consider playing as a wing back. While this would use him in a position where he has put in some of his better performances, when previous manager Sef Vergoossen was forced to use him in that position when Makoto Kakuda was injured. SInce he was starting from a deeper position, he was able to make good use of his speed on the overlap whilst not getting caught off-side with monotonous regularity. Unfortunately, he would have a hard job getting a starting place ahead of either Hayuma Tanaka or Shohei Abe, both of whom are good defenders, even if they are not much better at getting over accurate crosses. He is also prone to run out of gas after about 70 minutes, which makes it hard to see Pixie using him on a regular basis. He may well be get more chances to play if he did move, and he would certainly add some character to whichever team he chose to join.

So, will he stay or will he go? The cLub, the player himself and fans alike will be in two minds on which of these options is best.