Chanathip Songkrasin is one step away from moving from Consadole Sapporo to the defending Japanese League champions, Kawasaki Frontale. His transfer value will reportedly break the record in Thailand, which was previously recorded in his own name.
Reported by the sports daily Sponichi, Saturday (8/1/2022), General Manager of Consodale Sapporo Hirokatsu Mikami has confirmed this. Chanathip is rumored to be bought for 500 million yen, or nearly Rp 62 billion.
“In general, the situation is like that,” explained Mikami, responding to Chanathip’s move.
Chanathip, nicknamed Thailand’s Messi, has played in the Japanese League with Sapporo since 2017, appearing 123 times and scoring 16 goals. However, it was only in 2019 that the status was made permanent. Sapporo at that time paid Muangthong United for 2.4 million Euros, or around Rp. 39 billion today.
Chanathip’s entry to Kawasaki will make up for the departure of a number of midfielders who left overseas. Last June, Ao Tanaka moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf, followed by Kaoru Mitoma to Brighton & Hove Albion who was then loaned to Union SG in Belgium.
Earlier this year, there was Reo Hatate who anchored to Glasgow Celtic. Chanathip is expected to make Kawasaki stay strong in the coming season in order to defend the Japanese League title.
Chanathip himself just led Thailand to win the AFF Cup 2020 in Singapore. He scored 4 goals during the tournament, including two of them against Indonesia in the final match.
(adp/aff)
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