Riku Handa is not a flashy player by any means but he's been able to catch the eye in the early weeks of Japan's brilliantly bonkers J.League 100 Year Vision League, the answer to the need for football between seasons as Japan moves to a summer-to-spring calendar.
In the J1 version, the Gamba Osaka right-back is following a familiar path. Now 24, Handa is a young player by the standards of a league that starts 'em older. Teenagers and players in their early twenties are breaking through more often than ever but the J.League still does a roaring trade in reliable mid-twenties players exported around the world.
