Newcastle wrap up signing of Japan's Yoshinori Muto from Mainz

Published on: 02 August 2018

Newcastle United have signed Japan forward Yoshinori Muto from Mainz on a four-year contract, the Premier League side announced on Thursday.

Newcastle said last week that they had reached an agreement with the Bundesliga club for the transfer. Muto's move was completed on Thursday after he was granted a work permit.

"I'm honoured to be a player for such a big club," said Muto, the first Japanese player to join Newcastle.

Reports said Muto's transfer fee was around £9.5 million.

We are delighted to announce that Japan international Yoshinori Muto has completed a move to Newcastle United after he was granted a work permit at a hearing today. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/eB7qAoxtsa

— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) August 2, 2018

"I hope to achieve good results, that's what I'm here to do. I would like to perform well and leave my name in Newcastle's history," Muto added.

Muto, 26, has played 25 times for Japan and featured in one game at the recent World Cup, the 1-0 loss to Poland.

He is Newcastle's fourth permanent signing of the close season following goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng and defender Fabian Schar, with the club moving to add another option to its forward line after selling Aleksandar Mitrovic to Fulham this week.

"We were following him for quite a while. Hopefully he can bring us his energy and work-rate and help the team to improve," Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez said.

Newcastle begin their league campaign by hosting Tottenham at St James' Park on Aug. 11.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Source: espn.co.uk

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