Moving Target – Ryo Miyaichi

Roberto Martinez made his third foray into the summer transfer market earlier this week by acquiring the services of Ryo Miyaichi from Arsenal in a season-long loan deal. The 19-year old follows Fraser Fyvie and Ivan Ramis to the club and has since been joined by Arouna Kone from Levante as the Latics boss continues to bolster his first-team options:

Having finally struck upon a winning formula after moving to a 3-4-2-1 in the latter part of the previous campaign, Martinez is now in the process of fine-tuning his system, bringing in players who will flourish within the new formation. Miyaichi’s trickery on the ball and intelligent passing play looks an ideal fit for Wigan and the manager clearly anticipates the player to make a big impact in the season ahead:

The way we play, I think he’s going to fit in really, really well. As we’ve done previously with players that have come on loan, they’ve really found an important role, they’ve really found themselves feeling at home and we’ve seen the best of their football ability – so that’s the case with Ryo. We’re looking forward to seeing him here.

The Statistics
Miyaichi signed his first professional contract at the Emirates in January last year after impressing in a trial in the summer of 2010. Loaned out to Dutch club Feyenoord in the latter half of the 2010/11 campaign, he made an immediate impact – named man of the match on his debut, he went on to score three times and provide five assists over 12 starts.

Granted a work permit for the start of last season, Miyaichi was no more than a peripheral figure for the Gunners, though, and was reduced to reserve outings and League Cup matches before sustaining an ankle injury in November. Upon recovering, he was farmed out on loan to Bolton, where he provided a couple of assist in 12 games but his displays were not enough to save the Trotters from the drop.

Miyaichi has represented his country at every level from Under 15 to Under 21, scoring six goals in 19 matches, and also made his debut for the senior side earlier this year.

The Prospects

The future of Victor Moses is likely to have a considerable say in Miyaichi’s projected game time over the season ahead. The former Crystal Palace man has already been the subject of a number of failed bids from Chelsea but if he does finally clinch a move to the Bridge, Miyaichi is surely set to be handed a regular starting role in one of the two positions behind a lone striker. There is also the possibility, though, that if Moses stays, Miyaichi could impact heavily on the game time of Shaun Maloney, bearing in mind that the latter has had his fair share of injuries over the last couple of years. Although Maloney’s appeal is boosted by his spot-kick duties, Miyaichi could be handed a fair share of corners by Martinez; similar to the situation that transpired upon his loan move to Bolton under Owen Coyle.

While Moses comes in at 7.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), both Maloney and Miyaichi offer potential in the cut-price bracket – both will set you back 5.0 in comparison. In the Sky Sports game, however, Miyaichi comes in at 4.6 compared to Moses’ 6.9 – somewhat surprisingly, Maloney is also 6.9 and is classified as a forward; clearly, the new boy looks the most intriguing option to Fantasy managers here.

Before looking at the schedule, it’s worth remembering that Wigan served us an emphatic reminder last time round that form is a better barometer than fixtures when assessing their options – wins over United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle, in a run that saw them rack up seven victories in their last nine in 2011/12, stand testament to that.

Martinez will hold no fear heading into Sunday’s opener at home to a Chelsea side that have tasted defeat in all four of their previous matches, then, while home clashes with Stoke and Fulham, allied with a trip to Southampton within the first six Gameweeks, all look prosperous. For Fantasy managers, let’s hope Roman Abramovich opens the chequebook once again and quickly snaps up Moses, affording us a cheap route into Martinez’s midfield with plenty potential for attacking points.

Further Reference

Ryo Miyaichi Wikipedia
Ryo Miyaichi Statistics
Ryo Miyaichi YouTube