Kaoru Mitoma: How Brighton's new star caught the eye in Belgium

1 year ago 59

Christian Burgess couldn't rather judge what helium had conscionable seen. His side, Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, were trailing 2-0 and down to 10 men against RFC Seraing. Rather than effort to bounds the damage, manager Felice Mazzu made an attacking substitution astatine half-time that changed everything.

Kaoru Mitoma came connected and turned the crippled connected its caput with a stunning hat-trick to implicit an unthinkable comeback. A 4-2 triumph sent the recently promoted broadside apical of the Belgian First Division and announced the emergence of a caller star.

"He conscionable wholly took the crippled by the scruff of the cervix and won it for us. It was similar the Kaoru Mitoma show. He was unstoppable," says Burgess, an English defender who antecedently played for Middlesbrough and Portsmouth.

"He got the shot from heavy and ran the magnitude of the transportation to people the fourth. I retrieve reasoning 'Wow, that was special'. That was erstwhile helium announced himself arsenic a earnestly susceptible player."

Burgess and the remainder of his Union team-mates knew small astir Mitoma erstwhile helium archetypal arrived successful Belgium. Now they tin boast astir having seen 1 of the breakthrough stars of the Premier League play instrumentality his archetypal steps successful European shot up close.

Brighton are famed for the planetary absorption of their shrewd recruitment strategy. Mitoma joined from Kawasaki Frontale successful August 2021, but was instantly sent connected indebtedness to Union, who are besides owned by the Seagulls' president Tony Bloom.

"He was precise quiet. He was a nice, humble feline but helium didn't talk a lot. He was a spot of a shy character," explains Burgess.

"I deliberation helium had a bully enactment portion travel implicit with him from Japan. His woman and a physio came over, truthful helium had that enactment and familiarity astatine home. He conscionable expressed himself connected the pitch."

Burgess remembers laughing arsenic Mitoma repeatedly skipped past Jonas Bager with easiness successful 1 of his archetypal grooming sessions astatine Union. The Danish centre-back grew truthful frustrated that helium yet resorted to clearing him retired with a pugnacious tackle.

"When he's moving astatine you, and it's 1 v one, it's hard to cognize what to do. He tin spell extracurricular and inactive get astir you with his gait and bring the shot connected to his close ft to finish. If you screen that, he'll chopped wrong and conscionable walk it into the acold corner," says Burgess.

"When you bash halt him, you consciousness similar a precise bully player, but it didn't hap arsenic overmuch arsenic I would person liked! It was evident that helium had a batch of quality and could spell and play astatine the apical level."

Despite impressing his team-mates successful training, Mitoma initially had to bide his clip arsenic Union took the apical level by storm. Up until that unforgettable show against Seraing successful October, helium had lone been utilized arsenic a substitute successful the league.

Tiring defences couldn't header with Mitoma's devastating operation of velocity and skill. In 29 appearances, 17 of them starts, determination were 8 goals, 4 assists and countless flashes of inspiration.

Burgess said: "His alteration of gait is conscionable scary. When helium chops inside, oregon chops again and goes outside, he's conscionable excessively speedy with his question and his archetypal fewer steps of acceleration. It's deadly. I saw him bash it to Trent Alexander-Arnold precocious and helium made it look easy."

Mitoma's quality made him a cleanable outlet for Union. If they were struggling, helium could relieve unit and transportation his squad up the pitch.

"Sometimes, erstwhile you're nether the cosh, you'd conscionable deliberation 'Okay, if we triumph the shot back, we'll springiness it Kaoru and fto him bash his thing'," said Burgess.

"As soon arsenic helium had the ball, different teams would effort to treble up oregon they would conscionable driblet disconnected due to the fact that his gait was excessively much. It gave america each a breather astatine the back."

Mitoma developed a toughness during his indebtedness spell - the resilience and warring tone that would beryllium needed to marque an content connected the Premier League.

After Union had finished the regular play successful apical spot, helium raised his crippled successful the play-offs, starting 5 retired of the six matches and scoring successful some wins implicit section rivals Anderlecht.

"He took things possibly a small spot much personally and truly wanted to beryllium successful, whereas I deliberation astatine the commencement helium was conscionable trying to acceptable successful and accommodate to his surroundings," said Burgess.

In the end, Union narrowly missed retired connected the rubric to Club Bruges and Mitoma went backmost to Brighton, who had been pursuing his advancement closely. Once much an interaction substitute successful the aboriginal stages of the season, helium has blossomed into possibly their astir unsafe subordinate nether Roberto de Zerbi.

Since returning from the World Cup, wherever helium helped Japan bushed Germany and Spain connected their mode to a spot successful the past 16, Mitoma has scored successful 3 of his past 4 league appearances, including a superb curling decorativeness into the apical country against Leicester City, arsenic the entertaining Seagulls person climbed to sixth. He besides struck a stunning victor in the FA Cup fourth-round triumph implicit Liverpool.

A precocious bloomer who elected to postgraduate from assemblage earlier starting his nonrecreational career, the 25-year-old winger was successful nary unreserved to scope the top.

"You similar to spot bully people, and radical who enactment hard, bash well," said Burgess. "If anyone deserves it, it's Kaoru. It's not casual going from Japan to England via Belgium, not speaking the connection and not being astir your household and friends. He's taken it each successful his stride and he's conscionable got amended and better. He's reaping immoderate of the rewards and I'm truly pleased for him."

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