He turned down Manchester United. The Japanese goalkeeper is headed to Belgium.
Belgian side Sint-Truiden, a former team of Lee Seung-woo (Suwon FC), announced the signing of Japanese goalkeeper Zaion Suzuki on June 6. Suzuki was born in 2002 and does not have much professional experience, including in the Japanese J-League, but he is a promising youngster with a lot of potential to make the A team.
Suzuki turned down Manchester United in favor of Sint-Truiden. It’s not like the Red Devils had a bad offer. According to the Daily Star, the Red Devils offered a £4.5 million transfer fee to Urawa Reds to get Suzuki to agree to the deal.
Despite Urawa’s agreement, it was Suzuki’s decision not to sign with Manchester United. Suzuki chose to build his career rather than join a big club at a young age. Joining Manchester United would have drastically reduced his chances of getting first-team minutes. The Red Devils already have Andre Onana as their first-choice goalkeeper, and he’s a far cry from his current form.
Suzuki realized that he couldn’t compete with Onana for the number one spot right away. He also didn’t want to spend time on the bench in the run-up to the Paris Olympics. Suzuki wasn’t even a starter in the J-League, so he decided to find a place to play in Europe. That’s why the Japanese owners chose Sint-Truiden, a player who could definitely give him a boost. 안전놀이터
The Manchester Evening News commented on Suzuki’s choice, saying, “It seems he felt he needed at least two more years before he was ready to challenge Onana,” and that he made a bold decision to pursue his career at a young age.
Suzuki is a mixed-race goalkeeper born to a Ghanaian father and Japanese mother. The 6-foot-2 goalkeeper has a great ability to make saves. He made his professional debut in 2021, breaking into the Urawa first team.
Japan has high hopes for him. Suzuki earned a steady stream of age-group caps as a youth, and last year he was called up to the A team for the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup).