Top 5 Asian players to have graced the Premier League
In the 25+ years since its inception, the Premier League has become a truly global competition, with players from literally all across the globe plying their trade for England’s biggest football clubs. The likelihood is that for most countries, at least one player has been seen on the Premier League stage at some point.
The countries from the continent of Asia are no different, and while there haven’t quite been as many fantastic Asian imports to the Premier League as there have been African or South American, we’ve still seen a good number of quality Asian talent gracing England’s shores.
Here are the 5 best Asian players to grace the Premier League.
#5 Shinji Kagawa
There was a lot of hype around Japan’s Shinji Kagawa when he joined Manchester United in the summer of 2012 from Borussia Dortmund, and the fact that he cost the Red Devils somewhere around £17m suggested that the club had high hopes for him, too. Unfortunately, the Premier League only saw glimpses of his tremendous talent.
A skilful midfield playmaker, Kagawa debuted in August 2012 and scored his first goal for United in his first home game for the club, and despite being sidelined midway through the season with a twisted knee, he was still able to complete 20 matches in the league, scoring 6 goals – including a hat-trick against Norwich, making him the first Asian player to complete that feat in the Premier League.
As the 2012-13 season ended, Kagawa became the first Japanese player to win the Premier League title, but the midfielder then fell out of favour at Old Trafford as boss Sir Alex Ferguson retired and was replaced by David Moyes.
He made just 14 starts in 2013-14 – registering 3 assists but no goals – before returning to Dortmund at the end of the season. Still, his contributions in his first season can’t be ignored and if anything, he should go down as an example of wasted potential on United’s behalf.
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