Football
Gabriel Tan 3y

Vissel Kobe complete double capture of Yuya Osako, Yoshinori Muto

Vissel Kobe have significantly bolstered their attack for the remainder of the 2021 season with the double signings of Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto, who both return to Japan following lengthy spells in Europe.

Muto's arrival was announced on Saturday and comes shortly after his release by Premier League outfit Newcastle was announced.

And on Sunday, Vissel -- who are currently third in the J1 League but trailing leaders Kawasaki Frontale by a hefty 17 points -- followed up with the capture of Osako from Germany's Werder Bremen, who are playing in the second tier this season following their relegation from the Bundesliga.

Osako has spent the last seven years playing in the top flight of German football having also previously played for Cologne, and was Werder's joint-top scorer in the league as recently as the 2019-20 season.

However, he failed to score even once in the Bundesliga last term as Bremen suffered relegation for the first time in 41 seasons.

Meanwhile, Muto also spent his first few years in Europe playing in Germany for Mainz, before earning a move to Newcastle in the summer of 2018.

He famously scored against Manchester United that October but it was to be his only Premier League goal in two seasons at St James Park.

Both featured for Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and were also part of the side that finished runners-up at the AFC Asian Cup the following year, and will add even more firepower to a Vissel outfit who currently boast the joint-third best attacking record in the J1 League with 35 goals scored from 22 matches.

Nonetheless, they will welcome some much-needed firepower in attack following the recent of departure of top scorer Kyogo Furuhashi to Scottish Premiership giants Celtic.

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