Why ‘next level’ Japanese star has Newcastle Jets ‘really, really excited’

Kota Mizunuma is only two matches into his A-Leagues career but the Newcastle Jets recruit is already making his presence known, just ask head coach Rob Stanton and teammate Lachie Rose.

The Jets pulled off a coup when they lured Japanese winger Mizunuma to the Isuzu UTE A-League from J1 League giants Yokohama F.Marinos a fortnight ago.

For the first time in his career, the 34-year-old midfielder is playing outside of his homeland, having won the 2022 J1 League title with Kevin Muscat in Yokohama.

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Now, Mizunuma is making an immediate impact at the Jets, where he set up an 87th-minute equaliser as Newcastle salvaged a 2-2 draw away to rivals Central Coast Mariners in the F3 Derby on Saturday.

“Kota is very professional,” Jets forward Rose told Network 10. “He didn’t play in the J-League for all of his life for no reason, and you can see it.

“The things he does after training, the things he does during training and pre training is next level. For all the young boys, especially myself, I can learn a lot off him.

“Playing with him, we’re still trying to figure out what each other is good at, and I think we’re starting to build that chemistry now. So I think if we can keep pushing forward, there’s not heaps of games left but we want to finish off this season with as many wins as possible.

“I feel like Kota can help us with that.”

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In his post-match press conference, Stanton added: “Kota, now he’s a couple of weeks in, he’s found his feet.

“He’s exciting too because he gives us a new dimension from attack in that wide area as well. I think he had a shot blocked as well today, and his set pieces are unbelievable.

“I’m excited by that. Really, really excited.”