Alex is an attack-minded left-sided player. He played wide left midfield for his former club Shimizu S-Pulse, but he can also play left-wingback or even as a central striker. "He is a quick and direct offensive player who likes to get forward," Curbishley revealed. "Our main concern at the moment is to make him as comfortable as possible with his new surroundings because Japan is a very long way to come for any player. "We wouldn't want to get ourselves into a situation where things can't be undone after they are done, which is why we are giving Alex a few days to settle."
The arrival of Alex in England attracted plenty of publicity with around 50 journalists greeting him at the airport. And members of the Japanese press also gathered outside Sparrows Lane on Tuesday morning.
Said Alan: "The movements of such players always attract lots of publicity and we are experiencing some of that now."We perhaps experienced a bit of it when Jorge Costa came over last season but this is something else.We've seen with other Japanese players who have come to the country, like Inamoto at Arsenal and then Fulham and Kawaguchi at Portsmouth, how big the news is back in Japan, and he's got a bit of a following back home.
"There's a free week in the Japanese league this week, which has given him the opportunity to come over and given us the chance to have a look at the possibility that something can be done in the future."If Alex does sign he will be the second player the Addicks have signed from the Japanese club,the first being Mark Bowen five years ago.