Posted on May 17

Japan midfielder Hiroshi Kiyotake, who will join Nuremberg in July, vowed Thursday to follow the example of his former teammate Shinji Kagawa, a Borussia Dortmund star now targeted by Manchester United.

"If Shinji can do well there (in Germany), then I definitely can, that is the sort of confidence I want to have," the Cerezo Osaka player told Japanese media in Osaka.

"I have had my doubts but I view this move as a challenge and hopefully I can create goals," he said, according to Kyodo news agency.

His J-League club said the 22-year-old Kiyotake, a key member of Japan's under-23 squad for the London Olympics, will join Nuremberg on July 1.

His transfer fee to the Bundesliga side is estimated at about one million euros ($1.3 million) and he has signed a three-year contract, according to media reports.

Kiyotake has scored 17 goals in 92 J-League matches. He joined Oita Trinita in 2008, moving to Cerezo Osaka in 2010.

Kagawa moved to Dortmund from Osaka after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He helped Dortmund to win back-to-back Bundesliga championship titles as well as this season's German Cup.

Kiyotake has played in five games without scoring a goal for Japan's senior side. He is also a member of the Olympic squad seeking the country's first football medal since they won bronze at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

"It will be best if I always aim to score goals and be involved in setting up goals," he said, adding that he wanted to help change Nuremberg's long-ball game.

He will join a legion of Japanese players in Germany's professional leagues including Kagawa, Stuttgart striker Shinji Okazaki, Wolfsburg midfielder Makoto Hasebe and Schalke defender Atsuto Uchida.