Hamburger SV midfielder Tatsuya Ito is currently representing Japan in the Toulon Tournament (1 to 15 June) and the upcoming Copa America (14 June to 7 July). And German paper Hamburger Morgenpost has criticised the arrangement of having him play back-to-back tournaments in one summer as “crazy”.

Ito started for Japan against England in the first group stage match of the Under-22 tournament on 1 June, where he put in a good performance and set up one assist in the 2 – 1 win.

While Hamburger Morgenpost praised Ito’s assist as being an “exquisitely soft cross”, it lamented, “His colleagues had already gone on vacation, and yet he has to play in two tournaments this summer.” The paper went on to point out that Hamburger would be starting preseason in end June, and that should Japan progress in the Copa America, Ito would only return to the club in mid-July. It questioned the Japan call-ups as “crazy treatment”.

On the other hand, the article also suggested Hamburger’s implicit intention for allowing Ito to play in the two tournaments. “It is possible for him to attract attention from other clubs if he plays well in Toulon and Copa America.”

Ito’s agent was reported to have informed Hamburger’s management that he wants a transfer, and it is very possible that the Japan international is using the tournaments to impress potential buyers.

For Japanese football news: CoolJapan Soccer

Source: Yahoo

Image: gettyimages