The notion that Japanese people are taciturn and reserved is a dreadful cliché. Now, as Hiroki Ito leaves VfB after three years as one of the most expensive departures in the club’s history, it feels as though we haven’t seen him long enough in the white and red.
Over the past years, I’ve introduced many new signings here and talked with experts and fans from their former clubs. With one exception: When Hiroki Ito came on loan from Japan’s second league to Stuttgart in 2021 and was initially planned for the second team, I did reach out to Alan Gibson from JSoccer.com, as I had previously spoken with him about Wataru Endo, but no article came out of it. Alan considered him a promising young player, clearly too good for Japan’s second division, and therefore moving to VfB. “I hope he grows patiently,” he concluded our brief exchange, and I assumed Ito would be playing for the reserve team in the near future.
Corner extension to Glory
Well, Ito never played for them, instead appearing in 97 games in three seasons with the red stripe, in the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and in the relegation playoffs. Over time, he became an indispensable part of a team that went through two tough and one outstanding year, during which his strengths fully emerged. His vision, his playmaking, his unusually refined left foot for a defender. Of course, what remains memorable are not only Ito’s tackles or his two rather wild goals but an extended corner on May 14, 2022.
Throughout the three years, we heard and read relatively little from the center-back, and you can hardly find an interview with him online—which will likely change with his move to the record champion. It almost feels like he’s gone before we truly noticed him at VfB. Amid all the rumors about Führich, Guirassy, or the negotiations around Undav, it recently went unnoticed that a center-back has steadily played his way into the focus of bigger clubs. Thus, the move to Munich isn’t entirely surprising, especially if he doesn’t want to miss out on the Champions League with his club switch.
The Clause Conundrum
It’s going to be a long transfer summer, and Hiroki Ito will surely not be the last player to stir our emotions. After the experiences of the summer of 2022, a bit more composure would do us all and the reporting journalists some good—unless one’s employer demands otherwise. I don’t want to throw a Wehrle-style “Relax a bit” at you, but the multitude of rumors is just as much a price of success as the circulating exit clauses with fixed transfer sums. If you don’t want to lose players for free or sell them under pressure and below value a year before their contract ends, you must extend the contracts accordingly and offer the other party either more money or an attractive exit option. Since VfB still doesn’t have enough money, only the clause remains.
Or you extend the contracts at a time when the player cannot make demands, as was the case when many of the current players signed their first contracts in Bad Cannstatt. This, however, requires a lot of trust in their development. And finally, an exit clause and an interested club don’t necessarily mean that a transfer will happen. The clause is still triggered by the player, as it is embedded in his contract. Not by the club. This was the case with Hiroki Ito, and it might also be the case with Serhou Guirassy and Chris Führich. Of course, there is no guarantee that we can compensate for the departure of three key players as well as we did last season. But unlike twelve months ago, we now have something to offer.
Titelbild: © Matthias Hangst/Getty Images