Another lost opportunity

"Japan's star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura will not have to worry about being lost in translation at his new club Espanyol - because he will have no interpreter at his side."

Reasons? Forced immersion :

""We want him to get accustomed to the environment as soon as possible," Espanyol manager Mauricio Pochettino said, explaining the reason for not hiring an interpreter for Nakamura, according to the Sports Nippon."

Or was it the cost factor of maintaining an interpreter-attendent?

"It is the first time that Nakamura will be without a personal interpreter in his past seven years in European football - the first three with Italy's Reggina and the rest with the former Scottish champions Celtic."

You don't get it : someone will take care of him :

"Instead, a Japanese strategy analyst in Espanyol's B team will come to his rescue in the event of any linguistic trouble."

Now, the burning question is : what the hell is "a Japanese strategy analyst in Espanyol's B team"?

But after all, for soccer players, communication comes down more or less to kicking the ball :

"An Espanyol official told the daily: "The manager has repeatedly checked Nakamura on DVD and given high marks to his high ability to understand tactics."

"The manager said that there will be no problem at all, even without an interpreter, once he stands on the pitch and kicks the ball.""

The great full article is here.