In need of a playmaking midfielder to direct the attack, the Vancouver Whitecaps have signed Japanese player Daigo Kobayashi to an MLS contract.

The J League veteran, who came to Vancouver last week to go through some medical and fitness testing, accompanied the Whitecaps on Monday as they left for a training camp and pre-season games in Arizona.

“He’s technically very gifted and got an excellent final pass,” head coach Martin Rennie said in a release of the 5-foot-10 Kobayashi, who turns 30 next month. “He can create goals for us and he’s got a lot to prove. Those are the type of players we want in our squad.”

After cutting ties with Barry Robson last week, losing John Thorington in the re-entry draft and selling Davide Chiumiento to FC Zurich mid-way through last season, the Whitecaps were thin in central midfield.

Kobayashi said in a release that he’s happy to be in Vancouver “and play for the great fans of this city.”

He spent his first eight pro seasons in the J League with Tokyo Verdy and Omiya Ardija, then spent the 2008 campaign with Stabaek, helping the Norwegian club claim the league championship. He scored 13 goals in 40 league and Cup games that season.

After an undistinguished stint with a pair of Greek sides, he has spent the past two seasons back in Japan with Shimizu S-Pulse.

Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson, who played with Kobayashi in 2006 while with Omiya Ardija, told Whitecaps FC on Monday that his former teammate would be one of the most technical players in MLS.

“Everybody should be excited to see him play,” said Davidson. “He came the difference in the game . . . definitely control the game. He can take free kicks, corner kicks. He’s just a pure entertainer.”

The Whitecaps play their first pre-season game tonight against the New England Revolution in Case Grande, Ariz. On Saturday, Vancouver faces the Houston Dynamo in Tuscon.

gkingston@vancouversun.com