Bolton looking for Hidetoshi Nakata
Wednesday, 10 August 2005 14:27Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed he is in talks with Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata about a possible move to the Reebok Stadium.
The 28-year-old midfielder has played in Italy with a host of teams since moving to Serie A from Japanese side Bellmare Hiratsuka ahead of the 1998-99 campaign and Fiorentina today confirmed the player is in London to discuss the move.
Allardyce told the club website: "Hidetoshi is a player I admire and it would be great to have him on board. We will see how the talks progress over the next couple of days."
Nakata joined Fiorentina last summer but things have turned sour as the club have been struggling financially.
Nakata was an instant success in Italian football, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances with the first club he joined, Perugia.
That helped him become a superstar in Japan and two years later Nakata left for Roma, winning the Scudetto with the team in 2000-01.
He then joined Parma in a big-money move ahead of the 2001-02 season and played there for two-and-a-half seasons before leaving for Bologna.
Last year, he made 20 appearances for Fiorentina.
If Nakata agrees a move to Bolton, he will continue a tradition at the club where Allardyce has found success by acquiring and getting the best out of players whose stock had fallen in previous seasons.
