From our other sites
The story
French Ligue 1 side Lyon are considering signing Japan international midfielder Keito Nakamura (26), who currently plays for Ligue 2 club Stade Reims, according to local outlet Foot Mercato. The move is reportedly meant to fill a gap left by an expected departure among Lyon’s key forwards, with the transfer deadline looming in the early morning hours of September 2 (Japan time). Nakamura has previously been linked with Hull City in England and Ajax in the Netherlands, though neither rumor ever developed further. On 5ch, some posters expressed hope for the move, but skepticism toward a report that only says the club is “considering” it, along with sober assessments of Lyon’s well-documented financial troubles, stood out.
Sponichi [ September 1, 2026, 04:30 ]
Local outlet Foot Mercato reported on the 30th that Ligue 1 club Lyon are considering signing Japan international midfielder Keito Nakamura (26), who plays for Ligue 2 side Stade Reims.
With one of Lyon’s key forwards expected to depart, the club is reportedly moving to fill the resulting gap. Nakamura, an attacker for Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan squad who shone at the World Cup in North/Central America and whose next move is drawing attention, had also reportedly been targeted by Hull City (England) and Ajax (Netherlands). France’s transfer window closes on the 1st.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Two straight years in Ligue 2 would be brutal.
Feel bad for the guy.
At least he's not going to some money-grubbing club.
PSG's obviously out of the question though.
In Japan time it's the morning of the 2nd.
Progress rate: 5%
Reims will keep up the "we're working on it" act and he'll be stuck there again this season.
Ito's not going anywhere, he's playing regularly in Belgium.
No wait, plenty did.
Though Nakamura's still up in the air.
Zion, Ueda, and a bunch of others got moves though?
Huh? Just from the World Cup squad alone, Zion, Tomiyasu, and Maeda all stepped up to the Premier League, and Ueda moved to one of the big five leagues too.
Sugawara transferred as well, and Goto stepped up too, though that one was already decided before the tournament.
A transfer, huh?
Well, it'd be great if it actually happens.
His short socks, obviously.
His scoring output is actually better than Mitoma's, who plays the same position.
Though in terms of dribbling and breaking lines, it's night and day (in Mitoma's favor).
Yeah, this one's already dead…
European football transfer likelihood chart:
99% — Scores a goal
95% — Makes a match appearance
90% — Press conference with the club president present
80% — Press conference without the president
70% — Transfer confirmed!
60% — Clubs have reached agreement
50% — Transfer imminent
40% — Transfer all but certain
35% — Negotiations in final stages
30% — Medical exam on-site
25% — Official offer made
10% — Manager hints at signing
5% — Preparing an official offer
1% — Transfer talks begin
0.5% — Background/eligibility check
0.2% — Preparing to make a move
0.1% — Starting to scout
0.05% — Added to target list
0% — Dinner with the club president
No problem, he'll just wing it in "Keito-English" (a pun on "katakana English" — Japanese-accented English).
Since they lost, they shouldn't really have the budget for this…
Can they even afford €25 million?
I'm pretty sure Lyon's debt situation was in rough shape.
They're carrying close to €200 million in debt.
Last year that actually got them administratively relegated to Ligue 2 at one point — it was overturned, and Reims went down instead based on standings.
UEFA has also warned them to sort out their finances or risk being barred from competitions.
There's no way they have the money for an outright transfer for Nakamura. A loan is about the best they could manage.
Is his Bundesliga club just being greedy?
They only paid a few hundred million yen for him,
so wouldn't selling him for 2 billion yen be a win?
Mainz is doing fine financially and doesn't need the cash, so they'd rather keep a good player than pocket 5 billion yen.
With injuries piling up and no replacement available, they practically begged him to stay, so he's staying lol
Mitoma's scoring output is way too low.
He's got double-digit goals in the Premier League and you're calling that too low?
Background and key points of this story
Lyon is a club carrying massive debt, and its transfer-market spending has been restricted by DNCG, France’s financial oversight body for professional football — at one point there were even reports it could face administrative relegation to Ligue 2 (see post #74 in the thread). This report is still only at the “considering” stage, with no official offer or agreement in place. France’s transfer window closes in the early morning of September 2 (Japan time), and Nakamura has repeatedly been linked with clubs in England and the Netherlands before, only for those rumors to fade each time. Rather than optimism about the move, the thread was dominated by sober takes arguing that a full transfer is unrealistic given Lyon’s finances — with a loan seen as more likely — along with skepticism toward the very wording “considering.”
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “Ligue 1’s Lyon Eyeing Keito Nakamura (Ligue 2’s Stade Reims)? Local Media Reports“.
Leave a Reply