Takayuki Suzuki will be eligible to play from July 15. There is an away match in Sapporo the next day, and another in Toyama on the 23rd. While he could debut in either match if he is ready, it seems he may wait until the 31st for Mito's home match against Ehime.
Suzuki had an offer to coach at new MLS club Portland Timbers, but after the events of the massive earthquake in March, he wanted to do something for his home prefecture of Ibaraki, which was heavily affected. Originally from Hitachi, near Mito, he was moved by the efforts to return the team to its damaged stadium and wanted to help the community get its joy back. He hopes to help the team get promoted to division 1, which is a bit tough at the current stage of things.
His contract this year is fully amateur as he wished to receive no salary. It is already paying off for the club, and his choice has assisted the team as it attracted a new sponsor for the uniform back and shorts. The club was 30 million yen in debt to J. League to be repaid this year, which seemed impossible, and the new sponsors have brought in 50 million yen.
After this season, it seems he is likely to enter into coaching, either at Mito, his former club Kashima, or back in Portland if that offer remains.
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