Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto has decided to leave Turkish
side Galatasaray and is looking for a new club, preferably in
Europe, a press report said Monday.
His move followed a decision by the Turkish first division side not
to exercise the option to retain the veteran of two World Cups
after a one-year contract due to end in September, Kyodo News
said.
Saburo Kawabuchi, head of the Japan Football Association, told
Kyodo that Inamoto was left out of Japan's friendlies against
Montenegro and Colombia on Friday and June 5 due partly to his need
to look for a new club.
The 27-year-old Inamoto is also considering undergoing surgery to
remove screws from his injured left leg during the off season, the
JFA chief added.
He signed with the Istanbul side after failing to secure a regular
place in the lineup in his third year with West Bromwich Albion,
who were relegated from the English Premier League at the end of
the 2005-2006 season.
From 65 caps for his country Inamoto has scored four goals,
including two in the 2002 World Cup in which co-host Japan reached
the second round. But he played only a peripheral role at last
summer's finals in Germany.
The former Gamba Osaka player quit Japan in 2001 to join Arsenal,
but never played in the league in his solitary season in North
London before leaving for Fulham.
