By Mark Heys
August 12 2005

Sam Allardyce is looking forward to welcoming Japanese superstar Hidetoshi Nakata to Bolton Wanderers after agreeing on a deal which will bring the Fiorentina star to the Reebok Stadium on a year long loan. Nakata is one of Asia's finest sporting exports having moved from his homeland to Italian football seven years ago, and Allardyce is absolutely delighted to be able to add the 28-year old playmaker to his squad.

The Bolton manager revealed that there is still some way to go before the former Roma and Perugia player will be lining up in a Wanderers jersey, with the most notable hold up being the organisation of work permits and international clearance.

"Nakata arrived in the country early on Wednesday evening. He's going through the final stages of his negotiations and medical. His advisers are sorting out the finer details of his contract. Then of course comes the work permit which we don't consider to be a problem.

"If everything gets passed OK then he should be signing for us very soon. However, he won't be available for the Aston Villa game because we'd have to wait for the work permit to be issued.

"We'll then give him a settling in period - him getting to know us and us to get to know him. Hopefully, we will then build him up for an introduction to the Premier League within a couple of weeks."

Allardyce first became aware of Nakata's availability during the Trotters recent pre-season tournament in Japan, and from there negotiations have grown to a stage where Bolton are now able to be in a position to sign the player who the Bolton boss feels will be a great assett to the club as a player and a person.

"I spoke to him in Japan and met him in Osaka. From there we've been negotiating a deal with his representative. I am very pleased that we are in a position to sign somebody with Nakata's talent.

"He speaks very good English and is a very accomplished person. I'm very impressed with him, not just as a footballer, but as a person overall. I'm looking forward to his commitment of wanting to play in the Premiership with Bolton Wanderers. He sounds so committed and I'm looking forward to giving him the opportunity to play in the best-watched league in the world."

Bolton are going to be under constant watch by the Japanese media, as was the case when J-league star Akinori Nishizawa had an ill-fated loan spell at the club a few years ago.

Nakata is a different prospect altogether as he knows what the demands of European football are like, he is treated as an icon in his homeland in a similar way to which David Beckham is in England, so don't be too surprised if we see many of the friendly Japanese public flying over to watch games at the Reebok Stadium over the coming season.