Nishizawa - struggled at Bolton. (Allsport)
AKINORI NISHIZAWA
Position: Forward
Born: 18.6.76
Club: Cerezo Osaka
While teammate Junichi Inamoto was the first player to sign for an English club permanently, Akinori Nishizawa had the honour of becoming the first Japanese player to be signed by a Premiership football club.
He joined Bolton Wanderers on a season-long loan deal from J-League outfit Cerezo Osaka in the summer of 2001, but like Inamoto struggled to make his mark on the English game.
Nishizawa has played in Holland with Volendam and in Spain with Espanyol, and he made a perfect start to his career in England by netting a hat-tick on his Bolton debut against Boston United in a friendly.
But he failed to impress sufficiently, and with the World Cup coming up Nishizawa decided to end his loan spell early and return to Cerezo Osaka for first-team football ahead of the event.
Another player who will be under pressure to perform on home soil, a good World Cup could secure Nishizawa his last chance of another move to a big European club.
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