Ryo Germain

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Sanfrecce Hiroshima
18 Sep 2026
Friday
Process

Marked for Ryo Germain

6 Edition

The Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Hayao Kawabe asks to leave Sanfrecce Hiroshima

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Shuto Nakano and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Words at Sanfrecce Hiroshima training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mutsuki Kato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kim Jusung

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kim Jusung, and the manager let it.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Sanfrecce Hiroshima

11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

Squad

Shunki Higashi named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Shunki Higashi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Taichi Yamasaki's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

The dugout

When it matters, Marcos Junior plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Ryo Germain question follows Sanfrecce Hiroshima around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ryo Germain’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

Back issues
4 Edition

The Sanfrecce Hiroshima Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Sanfrecce Hiroshima march on in the cup

FC Tokyo are out and Sanfrecce Hiroshima go through, 3‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Market

Taichi Yamasaki hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sanfrecce Hiroshima can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 16 signed and 4 gone

That is the business done at Sanfrecce Hiroshima until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Transfer targets

The window shuts on the Yuto Ozeki deal

Sanfrecce Hiroshima ran out of time with Kawasaki Frontale. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.

Market

Takumu Kawamura’s move to Jubilo Iwata falls through

The deal that would have taken Takumu Kawamura to Jubilo Iwata has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sanfrecce Hiroshima with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Player ratings

Ryo Germain beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

No deal for Ryota Oshima at that price

Sanfrecce Hiroshima offered $60.0K; Kawasaki Frontale said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Words at Sanfrecce Hiroshima training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mutsuki Kato is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Sanfrecce Hiroshima find a way past Albirex Niigata

Albirex Niigata made Sanfrecce Hiroshima work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

In brief