The two Japanese Hiroki Ito and Wataru Endo have become important pillars at VfB Stuttgart in recent years. But the Swabians are apparently also pursuing an ambitious plan with the national players off the pitch.
As the “Bild” reports, the leading players are part of a marketing offensive by VfB in Asia. Ito and Endo should therefore become the face of VfB in Japan and help to advertise the club in their home country. Ideally, people on the Neckar even hope to land new sponsors, they say.
Both players are popular figures at home. Endo has recently been captained by Japan national team and Ito scored his first goal for Samurai Blue against Peru this week.
In order to advance the marketing strategy, a trip to Japan for the team at VfB Stuttgart was actually planned for this summer.
VfB Stuttgart wants to keep Japan duo
Because of the threat of relegation, the club management lacked the planning security with a view to the sporting future, so that the considerations were discarded. Now the five-time German champion is aiming for the hoped-for trip to Asia in 2024.
According to “Bild”, the advertising goals even have tangible consequences for squad planning. Because by 2024 Ito and Endo should not leave the club under any circumstances. A sale in the summer is excluded for both players.
Ito still has a contract until 2026, which probably does not have an exit clause. Endo, meanwhile, is entering the last year of his contract in the summer. The VfB leadership is therefore apparently striving for talks with the captain in a timely manner.
The VfB juniors are already doing the preparatory work for the strategy in Japan. The U11s are currently taking part in a youth tournament near Tokyo. There, the Stuttgart team is the only representative from Europe this year. In addition to VfB, other foreign teams from China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Cambodia are also at the start.