Joel Chima Fujita is the latest MeijI Yasuda J.League player to make the move abroad, joining Sint-Truiden in Belgium from Yokohama F·Marinos.

The 21-year-old Fujita is one of Japan’s brightest young stars, having played a crucial role in Marinos’ title-winning team a year ago and featuring prominently again this season as they pushed for a second consecutive crown.

A terrific box-to-box midfielder who can contribute all over the pitch, Fujita played for Japan at the youth levels and made his senior team debut last year. He’s been marked as a potential linchpin for the Samurai Blue in the future and a move to Europe will help him to continue to grow after the J.League provided him the vital beginning years of his career.

Sint-Truiden has been a popular landing spot for Japanese players in recent years, allowing them to make the move to Europe and, in some cases, even use it as a springboard to a bigger club on the continent. Fujita will join six other Japanese players at Sint-Truiden, where he figures to be the next player to continue the climb up the footballing ladder.