Maya Yoshida was the second player to feature in the 2012 London Olympics who subsequently joined Saints. Arriving the same week as Gaston Ramirez he cost about £10m less, but even so the 24 year-old centre-back had won 17 caps for Japan and had captained them at the Games. Nigel Adkins reckoned he was

“good with both feet and has a good presence about him”.

Unfortunately his debut in September 2012 came when he replaced the injured Jos Hooiveld at Arsenal during the first half in a game that Saints went on to lose 6-1. Maya was 12 years old when he was taken by his 19-year-old brother to Nagoya – some 200 hundred miles away from his hometown, Nagasaki – for a successful trial which meant that the youngster had to move into digs with his elder sibling. Maya has admitted that he grew up rapidly. “I learned to become an adult faster than my friends and that was good for me” he said in an interview in the Saints programme in 2012.

His place in the earlier Japan Olympic squad in 2008 caught the eye of Dutch club VVV Venlo but his move there soon ran into difficulties. The different culture in Europe coupled with a broken bone on the top of his foot and a botched operation meant that “life was hard”. He recovered to help Japan win their 4^th Asian Cup courtesy of future Saints team mate Tadanari Lee netting an extra-time winner against Australia in January 2012.

Despite his unfortunate debut at the Emirates – “I didn’t even know the names of some of the players” – Yoshida forged a partnership in central defence first with José Fonte but more often than not he was third choice behind the likes of Dejan Lovren, Toby Alderweireld, Virgil van Dijk and more latterly Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek.

When those first three all upped sticks and acrimoniously departed the dependable Yoshida was always there, phlegmatically picking up the pieces and if necessary, even filling in at full-back. Although he had his faults such as wayward distribution and the odd lapse of concentration he was no nonsense, unflappable and uncomplicated, all qualities that endeared him to the fans.  He was also an absolute colossus for his country during his time at St Mary’s. Captaining Japan at both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups he won his 100^th cap in November 2019. His contract ran out in the summer of 2020, so it made sense for all parties that he should be allowed to join Sampdoria on loan in the January transfer window with Saints being compensated for letting him leave slightly early.