Bolton's man from Japan...via Perugia, Rome, Parma, Bologna and Florence

Sam Allardyce's latest signing is hugely popular in Tokyo, but comes with a reputation as a playboy rebel. Hidetoshi Nakata insists he's here just to rediscover his appetite for football

Even with an exclusive deal to broadcast their matches live in the Far East, Parma never prospered with Nakata, on or off the field, despite an obvious marketing strategy. Three years earlier, the Perugia No 8 shirt had been the garment of choice for the fashion-conscious youth of Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka, out-selling brand Beckham at the turn of the millennium as football, and Nakata in particular, provided a generation of Japanese with a release from the economic depression of the time.

Now aged 28, in what should be the prime of his career, Nakata - playmaker and playboy, a man established as both a gay icon and the most eligible bachelor in his homeland - is in Bolton to rekindle a love for the game that has been diminished by injury, argument and, perhaps above all, relentless marketing. As a gentle reminder from Sam Allardyce that he is a footballer and not a merchandising tool, no packages of the new No 16 Bolton shirt are due to leave Lancashire. Not yet, anyway.

"I don't see us capitalising on it commercially in the short-term," admitted the Wanderers manager yesterday. "Though I sincerely hope that thousands of Japanese do go and buy our shirts because we will get the royalties and we need them. Hidetoshi is one of the top men to come out of Japan - and because he's come to Europe and done well, more and more people over there are going to turn their attention to Bolton Wanderers. But I'm not banking on it.

"Besides, our idea is to make Hidetoshi popular in this country. It is here we want him to enhance his reputation, not in his own country. This deal has not been done for commercial reasons, he is a good player who has proved in Europe over seven seasons that he is top-quality."

Allardyce would, however, be forgiven for keeping an eye on the Nikkei this year, although it is undoubtedly to Nakata's benefit that Bolton's primary industry is polishing faded football talent. Nakata is revered as an icon by Japanese youth for a style and attitude that defy their structured society, so his fame and wealth are secure whatever he achieves in the Premiership but, in his final years at Parma and last season at Fiorentina, his talent has been lost to celebrity and he needs hunger back.

"I have lost some of the enjoyment, that is exactly what it is," he said in impeccable English at The Reebok yesterday in a press conference that confirmed he has lost none of his appeal for the Japanese media, although the ban on questions in his native tongue was a sign of how he has lost any admiration for them. "If you don't enjoy your football you simply work hard but you don't play better. But I want to improve and I want to play better, that is why I needed to change atmosphere and even change countries. I just want to enjoy myself with Bolton, the challenge will be good for me. Football has become a big business in recent years, people are making a lot of money out of it. But I think in England I can enjoy my football again. I have had injury problems and technical problems in recent times, but I have remained at a good level with the national team and I just want to start."

Nakata's "technical problems", like those of many of the names who have been embraced by Bolton, were in fact managerial disputes. A long-running row about his best position - he favours the central playmaker's role - with Parma coach Claudio Prandelli came to an end when he moved to Florence last season, only for the pair to be reunited this summer when Prandelli was appointed as the Violas' manager. It was not an isolated example. The former Japan national team coach Philippe Troussier was always at odds with his most celebrated player, not only through a clash of styles, with Troussier allegedly demanding no other international should follow Nakata's dress sense, but inevitably once Nakata had walked out on the 2001 Confederations Cup Final against France in order to take part in Roma's successful title run-in.

Such acts add to the mystique of Nakata in Japan, whom he inspired to a first appearance in a World Cup Finals in 1998. In the eyes of many youth, he can do no wrong. "He is still our biggest star and the spirit of the national team," said Masatoshi Mori of the sports daily Hochi Shimbun. "He is a private person, but he is not afraid to say what he thinks and that is unusual for Japanese people. We don't usually say what we think, we obey. But Hide has a strong personality, he is a brave person, and he represents the new generation."

Upwardly mobile too, if five Serie A clubs in seven seasons - Perugia, Roma, Parma, Bologna (on loan) and Fiorentina - are an accurate barometer of a character who keeps Japanese gossip columns busy with a private life that included a dalliance with the actress Mila Jovovich. As a website post from one admirer in the US revealed: "He will carve into those wimpy English midfielders and into those fine English ladies!" Quite.

But if it is enjoyment he wants, Bolton aim to provide it, although it reveals all about their methods that the locals appear somewhat blasé about the arrival on a free transfer of a player who has cost almost £40m throughout his career.

Allardyce insists: "I will have been here six years in October and in that time we have built this football club into a place that enjoys itself. Football is an industry, but it is there to be enjoyed. We have improved in terms of human beings and facilities and every one of our internationals is thriving for their country. There is a risk in any transfer, whether it is from another country or another league, but I am sure Hide will be the same. We have brought him in on loan, but if he plays 30 games this season and has a good run in the Uefa Cup we will make it permanent."

Nakata's age and experience suggest he has the pedigree to become another of Allardyce's restored masterpieces though, even if it contradicts the over-riding principle of his arrival, Bolton may like to consider opening a Tokyo superstore.

"Every Bolton game will be on Japanese TV now," says Masatoshi Mori. "Serie A was always the most popular European league in Japan, but that has been changing over the last few years and now that Nakata has moved it will change completely. The Premier League will be the most popular now and Bolton will be very popular too. This summer they played in Japan in front of only 5,000 or 6,000 people. If they go back with Nakata next year it will be more like 50,000."

Turning Japanese: How the rising sons have sunk in England

Hidetoshi Nakata will become the fifth Japanese international to play in England, all of whom were in the team which reached the knock-out stages of the 2002 World Cup. The other four have all failed to make an impact. Shunsuke Nakamura became the first Japanese player in the Scottish Premier League when he joined Celtic this month.

Junichi Inamoto

(Arsenal, Fulham, West Bromwich and Cardiff)

Loaned to Arsenal in summer 2001 but failed to make a Premiership appearance. After good World Cup was loaned to Fulham but faded after a bright start. Joined West Brom for £200,000 a year ago but was soon loaned to Cardiff. Finally started for Albion on Saturday.

Akinori Nishizawa

(Bolton)

Striker signed on loan from Cerezo Osaka in July 2001. Scored against Walsall in one of three Worthington Cup starts but failed to make a Premiership appearance.

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi

(Portsmouth)

Cost £1.8m in October 2001 but this 5ft 11in goalkeeper's vulnerability in the air meant his English career never got off the ground. Conceded 26 seconds into debut and soon replaced by 42-year-old Dave Beasant.

Kazu Toda

(Tottenham)

'Toda-in-the-hole' made two starts at the tail end of 2002-03 after being signed on a year's loan but the midfielder did not recapture World Cup form and was soon released.

By Glenn Moore