Porto want to sell Shoya Nakajima this summer: What has gone wrong for the Japanese star?

Casting back to 2018: Shoya Nakajima, against expectations, was virtually the most talked about player in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, having lit up Portuguese football while playing for modest Portimonense.

His performance over the 2017-18 season was the like we had never really seen for a player plying their trade outside the top 4 clubs of the domestic game. Ten goals and 12 assists in 29 league outings gives you some clear insight into just how impeccable a campaign he experienced in his debut season with the Algarve club.

His exceptional dribbling ability and creativity, his impressive finishing from both inside and outside the opposition area, his vision and understanding of the game, his speed both on and off the ball... Shoya Nakajima was the most entertaining footballer in the Primeira Liga, by quite some distance - and excitement was building as to what could come of his career.

One of the biggest shocks of all, though, was that he remained a Portimonense player going into the 2018-19 season. Despite the most stellar of campaigns, Portimonense managed to hold off all interest in their superstar, not willing to budge from their high valuation of their talisman - and it paid off, as he scored 5 and assisted 6 in 13 league appearances by the end of January 2019.

Any suggestions that Nakajima was nothing more than a one-season wonder were therefore blown out of the water immediately, as Nakajima continued to look better than ever.

And it was then, right at the end of the January transfer window, that the Japanese international finally departed Portimonense, perhaps several months later than most would have anticipated. The diminutive winger ended up bringing in 35 million euros for Portimonense - an extraordinary sum of money for a mid-table Portuguese outfit and one that most would understand as impossible to refuse - as he joined Qatari outfit Al Duhail.

His time in Asia, though, wasn’t particularly productive. Just 2 goals in 13 outings across both the AFC Champions League and the Qatar Stars League was not the sort of return we’d come to expect from the talented winger, and it felt like a move back to Europe was necessary to revitalise his career.

And that’s exactly what happened. In one of the most exciting transfers of the 2019 summer window, Nakajima made a surprise return to Portuguese football after just 6 months away, joining FC Porto for a sum of just 12 million euros, with Al Duhail retaining 50% of his economic rights.

It was a move greeted with unanimous delight amongst the Porto faithful, who had seen first-hand the quality that Nakajima possessed. Porto also believed they had got their hands on an absolute star, giving the 25-year old an 80 million euro release clause.

Unfortunately, however, things simply haven’t gone to plan for one of the leagues most talented players. The 19-time Japanese senior international ended up starting just 5 league matches for Porto this season, appearing off the bench in a further 11, as he contributed just a single assist and no goals to Porto’s title triumph.

He did feature more prominently in Porto’s cup competitions, playing 12 games across the Portuguese Cup, Portuguese League Cup and the Champions League and Europa League, but was largely underwhelming in those competitions too.

And it was starting to become clear that Nakajima wasn’t part of Conceicao’s plans, even before the season came to a halt because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, his quite justifiable and understandable decision not to participate in the season run in with concerns regarding the coronavirus, arguably unfairly, did him few favours, with Conceicao even saying that “it is not worth commenting” on Nakajima as he was not available for selection. Not words that suggest he’s going to be part of Porto’s plans next season, and there was that feeling that those at Porto were highly displeased that Nakajima failed to integrate into first-team proceedings once the season resumed.

Things seem to have deteriorated further too, with Nakajima a notable absentee from the title party, meaning that he didn’t even get a medal at the trophy ceremony. His name didn’t even feature as the players that played a part in Porto’s Primeira Liga triumph stood by stands that bore their names to mark their success.

Nakajima’s future is therefore in serious doubt, and it is understood that Porto are willing to sell Nakajima in the upcoming window should they make their money back.

Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers were two clubs that were linked with Nakajima before he completed a move to Al Duhain, while PSG were also previously seen as a potential destination for the Japanese winger.

Shoya Nakajima. Photo author: Andres Oporto. License link.