Craig Levein 'excited' by Manchester City loanee Ryotaro Meshino
Thursday 15 August 2019 11:33, UK
Hearts manager Craig Levein is "hugely excited" about the prospect of signing Japanese forward Ryotaro Meshino on loan from Manchester City.
Gamba Osaka announced they had agreed a deal to sell the 21-year-old to City last week and Hearts have been lined up to give him his first taste of British football.
Hearts have already agreed terms of the loan and now have to convince a work permit hearing that the Japanese midfielder would help enhance their squad, even though Meshino doesn't meet current work permit criteria because he has still to be capped by Japan.
"We are working on that, we will have an idea of the hearing date for a special talent visa shortly," Levein said. "I'm hugely excited about this one, he is an extremely talented young boy.
"We have been talking to Manchester City about a few things recently and nearly did another bit of business a couple of weeks back. Being able to bring someone into the UK on loan to us gives the player an idea of the environment and maybe Manchester City will take him after that or maybe he will stay for another year, I don't know."
