Juventus’s latest signing is Zion Suzuki

This week, The Athletic asked why goalkeepers on the transfer market do not command higher fees. After all, the most expensive transfer ever for a goalkeeper is still held by Kepa Arrizabalaga: in 2018, Chelsea paid Athletic Bilbao the €80 million release clause. Not that there haven’t been goalkeepers sold for high fees even recently. In 2023, as you may recall, Manchester United paid €52 million plus a further €5 in bonuses to Inter for André Onana. Although record-breaking sums are no longer being paid – as is the case, for example, in other positions – goalkeepers are still highly prized assets on the transfer market.

The reason is easy to see: in a low-scoring sport like football, it is important to have not only players who score goals (and indeed, strikers are always among the most expensive positions), but also those who are able to prevent them. The goalkeeper in 11-a-side football may not carry the same weight or have the same importance as their counterparts in ice hockey or handball, but they are always a key factor in a team’s successes (or failures).

One team that is struggling to find stability in this position is Paris Saint-Germain. The Parisians seemed to have found stability with the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma. Under Luis Enrique, however, the rotation between the posts has resumed. After Donnarumma was sold to Manchester City, the starting spot was initially entrusted to Lucas Chevalier, before the club turned to Matveï Safonov. But even the Russian failed to impress, so the French side have once again turned to the transfer market in search of a goalkeeper, identifying Parma’s Zion Suzuki as the ideal replacement for Chevalier. The former Lille player, however, has no intention of leaving the French capital, so PSG could end up loaning Suzuki to Juventus, another side desperately in need of a goalkeeper. But who is Suzuki?

Having come through the ranks at Urawa Red Diamonds, Suzuki signed his first professional contract at the age of sixteen years and five months, making his league debut at eighteen. From then on, it was all uphill, with a move to Europe to Sint-Truiden (a Belgian club that is a veritable enclave of Japanese players) and, subsequently, to Parma. However, there are some doubts about his reliability. In fact, we are not dealing with a world-class goalkeeper, but rather an inconsistent one, who alternates between good saves (thanks to excellent reflexes) and less assured interventions, such as with high balls (despite being 191 cm tall). On the other hand, he is strong on the ball. In fact, Parma’s attacking moves have often gone through him during build-up play. Juventus are likely banking on Suzuki still having room for improvement, given his age (he was born in 2002), and that he will go on to become the first true top-level Japanese goalkeeper. To date, Japan has not yet managed to produce a real-life Genzo Wakabayashi or Ken Wakashimazu.