Why are there fewer Asian players in the La Liga that value technology?

Before talking about the problem, I will first talk about one topic, which is the foreign aid policy of the five major leagues. In terms of the introduction of non-EU players, each country has strict regulations and restrictions on non-EU players.

Most leagues can only allow their own teams to have 3-4 non-EU players, and some of them are more stringent, with only 1-2 non-EU players, which makes European teams very cautious when introducing Asian players.

For example, the previous Serie A.

Before the recruitment policy was revised in 2024, Serie A could only introduce one non-EU player per season, which made it very difficult for them to directly introduce players from Brazil, Argentina and other teams, let alone Asian players, basically not to mention them.

Although Serie A has regulations that it can be "exported to domestic sales", and after playing in Serie A for a period of time, it can not occupy a non-European position and transfer between Serie A clubs, it is also troublesome to operate.

This has also caused a sharp decrease in the number of Asian players in Serie A. It has been rare to see them play in Serie A in recent years. Unless the policy is relaxed in the future, Asian players can be allowed to play in Serie A.

There are now two signing policies for non-EU players. The same is true for La Liga.

La Liga is not as strict as Serie A, and there are no restrictions on EU players. Each team is allowed to register four non-EU players, and can only play three at the same time.

Due to the regulations on signing, La Liga teams will be more cautious in introducing non-European players. The team's lineup structure and framework need to be carefully considered. If there are no restrictions on signing a random team, it may cause trouble for the coach to arrange the troops.

This is one of the reasons why La Liga has fewer Asian players.

After talking about the signing policy, let’s talk about the issue of Asian players in La Liga. Here I will take the situation of Japanese players as an example.

From now on, there are not many Japanese players playing in La Liga. In addition to the familiar Kenyo Kubo who is now, he plays football at Real Sociedad, and the others are Asano Takuma from Mallorca, who has just joined.

In history, Valladolid introduced Seki Akiji and Nishizawa Akiho played in Espanyol, and Okubo Karen was in Mallorca. These are quite famous.

Qian Guishi also played for a period of time in La Liga Eibar, Real Betis and other teams, and his performance was pretty good.

However, compared with the Bundesliga, the number of La Liga is still relatively small. The Bundesliga introduced a lot of Asian players. Many stars such as South Korea, China, and Japan were here at that time, but in La Liga, they were not too keen on introducing Asian players.

An expert once conducted statistics. Among the five major leagues, the proportion of foreign players in La Liga is the lowest, only 38%, 54% in Serie A, 55% in Bundesliga, and the most in Premier League, reaching 66%.

Especially the middle and lower levels of teams. Many mid- and lower-level teams in La Liga will prefer local players.

reasons will be more complicated. The signing policy is one aspect, and it is also related to the political and regional cultural nature.

Like the familiar Athletic Bilbao team, players with Basque blood have a long tradition. They are very alternative in La Liga. They rarely say that they can enhance the team's strength through foreign players. They rely on youth training and their own development to maintain the team's performance.

Another point is that the uniqueness of the Latin culture makes Latin teams give priority to Latin players. Even if it is a Japanese with technical skills, they don’t like it, but will choose South American players such as Brazil and Argentina to join the team.

Because Brazil speaks Portuguese, Argentina and other places speak Spanish, Latin American players can adapt quickly after coming to Spain, and their culture, playing football habits and styles will be closer, and the team management will be smooth.

Everyone will not have too many obstacles, communication is convenient and can save a lot of trouble.

The risk of introducing Asian players will be greater. Player adaptation is one aspect, and the most important thing is that it is difficult to integrate into the football culture here, and it will take a long time to adapt.

Kubo Kenyoshi talked about his experience of playing football in Spain during an interview. He said he was lucky enough to gain a foothold in La Liga, which was due to his childhood playing football here. He came here at the age of 10 and came to Barcelona youth training camp. He still knows the environment here. After playing well in Japan, Kazuyo Kubo was invited by La Liga Mallorca. He was soon able to adapt to the culture here and there was no big problem in communicating with his teammates.

He was familiar with Spanish and diet in advance and could settle here soon.

But if it were other Japanese players who had never been to Spain before, it would be a big trouble. If you don’t understand the language, communicate poorly, and the environment is not adaptable, it will be very difficult to stay in Spain.

The same outstanding skills, which one would you choose compared to South American players in Argentina and Brazil? I believe that normal clubs will make decisions soon and will give priority to the former and will not take too much risk.

This is also the reason why there are few Asian players in La Liga teams.