Kagawa, Son show the way for Asia's hopefuls

The increasing flow of Japanese and South Korean players to Europe's top leagues should encourage China that it can follow suit.

Japan and South Korea both qualified for this year's World Cup finals, with the former's national side featuring 17 players who ply their trade overseas－seven in Germany's Bundesliga, two in the English Premier League, and one each in Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1.

South Korea boasts arguably the best Asian player in the world right now－Tottenham Hotspur hotshot Son Heung-min, who has scored five goals in his last eight outings in all competitions.

Moving to Germany at 16 to pursue his soccer dreams, Son graduated from Hamburg's academy to its first team, making his Bundesliga debut in 2010 before earning a move to Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 for a club-record $12.3 million.

After some eye-catching performances for Leverkusen in the Europa League and Champions League, Spurs came calling in 2015, with the Londoners splashing out $29.8 million on the striker.

Son has proved a more-than-able sidekick for Harry Kane and Dele Alli at Tottenham and became the top Asian goalscorer in Premier League history when he notched his 20th English top-flight goal against Crystal Palace in November.

Japan's most famous export is Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa. The 28-year-old began his professional career in his homeland with Cerezo Osaka before joining Dortmund in 2010.

After becoming a key part of the Dortmund team that briefly knocked Bayern Munich off its perch by winning the Bundesliga in 2011 and 2012, Kagawa signed for Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, where he won one Premier League title. After an underwhelming second season at Old Trafford, Kagawa returned to Dortmund. He holds the record for most appearances and goals by a Japanese player in UEFA club competitions.

In terms of player development, former China international and Bundesliga midfielder Shao Jiayi said playing abroad produced "twice the result with half the effort", while Gao Yuan, director of the soccer studies department in Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in Beijing, believes China should actively encourage players to pursue careers abroad.

"Japan's strategy of sending their players to the top leagues has achieved very positive results, and their players' ability and experience have improved at foreign clubs," said Gao.

"The strategy could be one of the most effective ways for Chinese soccer to develop."