Galatasaray President Mustafa Cengiz hailed loanee Yuto Nagatomo for the impact he has made at the club both on and off of the field since his arrival a few months ago in an interview with Futbol Arena.

“He has great popularity among his people and brought the samurai spirit here with him. When the new Turkish Economy Minister was in Japan, they asked him for hundreds of sweaters with the name of Nagatomo on the back of them and we sent them through the embassy. There is also a good relationship between the two nations. The Italians [Inter] have sent us one of their reserve player but today he is very important for us. We do not talk about his transfer otherwise his price increases.”

The Japanese international defender joined the Turkish giants on a six month loan deal in January and has made 15 appearances since, tallying three assists during that time.