Maya Injury Clouds Move to VVV

Newly promoted to the full national side, Japan defender Maya Yoshida has broken his foot in training. Since the injury is likely to sideline Maya for a couple of months, it means that his move may not go through. (Although, I think it more likely to go through than otherwise.) Don't forget, all he has signed so far is a provisional agreement, his official signing had not been expected to take place until later in the month. (Can only see Dutch reports on this so far, Google News finds nothing in English yet.)

Goal.com (Dutch): Langdurig geblesseerde Yoshida houdt hoop op VVV-contract
SportsNavi: 吉田がトルコ合宿で骨折 ＶＶＶ移籍に影響も


One has to wonder why VVV did not allow Maya a few days to get used to things in Holland. The lad has had a tough schedule the last few week, playing 120 minutes against S-Pulse on 29 December, then 90 minutes against Gamba on 1 January, and 90 minutes against Yemen in the Gulf on 6 January. Not wonder he is a bit fatigued after a long hard season (playing 46 games) in which he was often our only dependable central defender. (Bajalaica was missing for several months of the season.)