In the highly tribal atmosphere that characterizes competition football, fans of different teams rarely care to admit that they might have something in common. Yet recently, supporters of Japanese J-League sides Urawa Red Diamonds, Cerezo Osaka and Gamba Osaka have indeed found themselves on common ground, over an uncommon event losing a player to the high-profile, highly competitive European leagues.
Last Monday, Gamba Osaka's star midfielder Junichi Inamoto, 21, joined English Premier League giants Arsenal in a deal worth a reported $5.5 million. The week before, Bolton Wanderers, another Premier League side, took Cerezo Osaka's Akinori Nishizawa,...
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