Hidetoshi Nakata has revealed the reasons why he retired whilst at Fiorentina” data-scaytid=”3″>Fiorentina in 2006, and was open as to why he chose Italy in the first place.
The Japan international hung up his boots with a year left on his contract at the Viola eight years ago, and the former midfielder has admitted that he wasn’t finding football fun anymore.
Hidetoshi Nakata has revealed the reasons why he retired whilst at Fiorentina in 2006, and was open as to why he chose Italy in the first place.
The Japan international hung up his boots with a year left on his contract at the Viola eight years ago, and the former midfielder has admitted that he wasn’t finding football fun anymore.
“Day after day I realised that football had just become a big business,” he told TMWMagazine.
“I could feel that the team were playing just for money and not for the sake of having fun. I always felt that a team was like a big family, but it stopped being like that.
“I was sad, that’s why I stopped at only 29.
“Have I thought about returning? All the time.”
Nakata then commented on why he chose to join Perugia in 1998.
“Before Perugia, Juventus came for me. When I was 19 I had a trial there, but for a month I didn’t even train with the first team.
“That’s when I went back to Japan, but I always thought that I wanted to go back and play in Italy.
“After the World Cup, that’s when I signed with Perugia. There were a lot of teams after me, but Perugia seemed like the best option at the time.”