Yosuke Ideguchi isn’t in Japan’s latest squad, and whichever way that’s spun it’s a problem for Leeds United.
Despite Vahid Halilhodzic expanding his squad to 26 players for the upcoming friendlies against Mali and Ukraine, Ideguchi hasn’t made the grade.
Halilhodzic doesn’t want to pick footballers not getting enough minutes, and Ideguchi falls firmly into that bracket.
He hasn’t been in Cultural’s last two squads, and the previous game he was on the bench. A recent start came through a Mario Oritz suspension, but the Leeds United owned player was hauled off after 45 minutes and hasn’t had a minute since.
Falling further down the Cultural pecking order, Ideguchi was replaced by Sergio Marcos, who has now even pushed ahead of Oritz.
It couldn’t be clearer that Cultural manager Rubén de la Barrera hasn’t been impressed so far with the player, and isn’t going to do him any favours simply because of the Leeds United link.
Similar happened with Ouasim Bouy who flirted between being in the stands or on the bench for Cultural in the first half of the season.
Lack of international appearances, with Halilhodzic making it clear Ideguchi could miss the World Cup, will only make a work permit harder to come by.
What had been a plan to see Ideguchi settle into Europe, go off to the World Cup and then arrive at Elland Road as something of a steal, isn’t quite working out.
Local Cultural news outlet Leo Noticias says the loan ‘has not been as profitable as the Japanese expected’, they can probably throw Leeds United in there too.
