Melbourne should look to Europe to use Honda in Asia

Every time Tottenham Hotspur play at Wembley the sight of South Korean flags are common, waving in appreciation of Son Heung-min.

Victory's Keisuke Honda poses with his fans during the Melbourne Victory Training Session Source: Getty Images

Fans back east who can’t make it to London have seen the Spurs players in the flesh in Seoul, can read all about the Premier League club on their official Korean language site, follow the news on the various social media channels and watch bespoke content on Korean television.

After Son, there is a case to be made for Keisuke Honda being the second biggest Asian star. It is a reputation forged at three World Cups for Japan and almost 100 international appearances, stints in the Netherlands, Russia, Mexico and, most famously Italy, with AC Milan.

It is an image enhanced by those blond locks, the sharp suits and the fact that he has always done things a little differently. It means superstar status, especially in Japan.

Melbourne Victory are getting a close-up view of all this in the coming days as the team visits Japan and Sanfrecce Hiroshima for the first away game in the AFC Champions League, following the 3-1 loss at home to Daegu FC last Tuesday.

It is the first chance for fans in the Land of the Rising Sun to see the star in club action since he left Nagoya for the Netherlands back in 2007.

Honda still has plenty to offer on the pitch but off it too there should be plenty to work with. The commercial benefits of signing Asian players can be, and usually are, overblown but when you have ‘Emperor Keisuke’ on your books his popularity could be made a goldmine.

That’s why it seems a little strange that Melbourne have not made more of their marquee man. Even something as simple as a Japanese page on the website would be a start. If nothing else, it would be a signal that the club recognised that there is interest in Japan as to how their man is doing in Australia.

There is, of course, no shortage of reports that appear in the Tokyo media but by not having regular news on the website, Victory are missing the easy opportunity to connect directly with a huge market in Japan in a manner entirely of their choosing.

It is not just a chance to tell Japanese fans about Keisuke Honda but to tell them about Melbourne Victory. The same could also be done quickly and fairly cheaply on various social media channels.

In 2018, in the weeks leading up to the departure of Arsene Wenger from Arsenal, the London club produced a number of videos exclusively for the Chinese market that were rolled out across various channels. It made fans in the country feel part of what was a major, and ongoing, story.

The videos from this #merciArsene campaign were watched 16 million times with 50 million page views. Arsenal soon became the fourth most followed European team on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

Doing something similar in Japan may not bring similar results for Melbourne but then if you don’t try you will never know. At least the club grows its profile, gains exposure to new fans and potential new sponsors. There’s nothing not to like.

It is not just in Japan where Honda offers an easy ‘in’ to a new market. He is famous all over Asia --he is one of the few Japanese players who is relatively well-liked even in China and South Korea --and especially in Cambodia. After all, Victory's star import is Cambodia's national team coach.

There is huge passion in that Southeast Asian country for the Angkor Warriors. Crowds in Phnom Penh for friendly games regularly top 40,000. As well as passion there is immense pride in the country that the team is coached by a such a well-known figure.

This arrangement of Melbourne’s star player also being the coach of a foreign national team may be bizarre but Victory could, once again, take advantage and embrace the situation.

Cambodia is not a country that is in the middle of the radar for European clubs but that makes it the better for Melbourne. With Honda in their ranks, Melbourne Victory could become the most-talked about Asian club in a country of 16 million. It would take some work and some investment but this is fruit of the low-lying variety.

Honda’s spell at Melbourne may be relatively short but as well as his talents on the pitch, he offers a legacy in Asia off it that could last much longer.

Victory need to employ some Honda-style vision to make it work.