Japanese newspaper Sponichi reports of a possible alliance between FC Tokyo and Spanish side Valencia CF, currently 6th place in the Liga 1 table.
According to the article, Valencia marketing director Victor Onate flew to Japan for urgent talks with Tokyo management. According to someone from the FCT side, they discussed first-level proposals such as staff exchanges, collaboration on player training, and friendly matches.
Valencia, struggling in recent seasons after winning two Liga 1 championships earlier this decade, is said to be looking for new business opportunities in the face of the growing global economic crisis. The two clubs first made contact in the 2006 offseason, when Valencia was pursuing then-contractless Yuhei Tokunaga and invited him to a training camp. Tokunaga chose instead to re-sign with FC Tokyo and has been a regular starting defender since.
As far as what this means, a collaboration between the two teams could open up many opportunities for FCT in terms of access to European players (indeed, perhaps this is why FCT has elected to not fill its 3rd foreign player slot) and international exposure. Tokyo could also take advantage of such a relationship by expanding its highly regarded youth program across international waters.
I’m going to try to get into contact with fans on the Valencia side and see what they may know, more as this develops.
