NUFC's media partner claim Benitez is plotting move for £14m striker currently at the World Cup
by Olly Hawkins ·
According to the Mirror, Rafa Benitez is keen to sign Yoshinori Muto this summer – the Mainz striker who’s currently representing Japan at the World Cup.
The report claims that the 25-year-old is valued at around £14m, having impressed in Germany over the past few seasons.
He’s had to settle for a place on the bench during Japan’s opening two games of the tournament, but he’s scored 20 goals in 65 games since making the move to the Bundesliga a few years ago.
It’s not a prolific return but if you factor in his 10 assists, he’s contributing to either a goal or an assist every other game in the Bundesliga.
Either way, he doesn’t sound like the ambitious and proven striker we and Benitez are craving this summer, but it looks like another summer where we may have to settle for players likely to be way down Rafa’s wish-list.
