Hidemasa Morita was the last of the Mundialistas to return to Sporting’s academy and is now under the command of Rúben Amorim. But the Japanese player who returned to Alcochete on Saturday is not the same as the one who left for Qatar, because he arrives from the World Cup valued, with more clubs attentive to the performance of the lions who now know that the 27-year-old – former midfielder has a price tag above 10 million euros.
Morita arrived in Alvalade this summer, coming from Santa Clara, in a commercial opportunity given the troubled situation that the Azorean SAD was experiencing at the end of the season. The administration of Sporting paid 3.8 million euros for the pass of the Japanese international who quickly took over as holder at Alvalade and according to the specialized site Transfermarkt, at the beginning of November, the quotation of the pass for jersey number 5 green and white was already in the 7 million euros.
In the World Cup, Morita started as a substitute in the Japanese victory against Germany (2-1) but then won the title with Costa Rica (0-1), which he kept against Spain (2-1), a match where he also played for the full 90 minutes. In the quarter-finals with Croatia, decided in favor of the Croats on penalties, he played 106 minutes. And while there were already clubs that had their eye on the midfielder, mainly due to his good performances in the Champions League, now there are European emblems paying attention to the player. In Alvalade it is known and therefore only a proposal greater than 10 million euros can at this time convince the administration of Sporting to speak. In other words, only proposals with bonuses around 15 million euros can be taken into account.
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