Maika Hamano joins the English champion team Chelsea from the Japanese champion club Kobe but is loaned directly to Hammarby.
- We followed Maika during the summer's U20 World Cup and caught a little extra eye for her when Pablo scouted the championship.
We are very happy that this opportunity came up as Maika is a fantastic player who doesn't really have any direct weaknesses.
We think she will fit in very well with our way of looking at football and subsequently develop as a player, says Hammarby's sporting director Johan Lager in a press release.
Last fall, the 18-year-old striker made his debut in Japan's senior national team and this summer was one of the key players in the U20 World Cup when Japan reached the final but lost to Spain.
- Last season was my first experience as a professional player and I developed a lot during my time in INAC Kobe.
Earlier in my career I had played basically every game, but here I mostly got to act as a substitute, which taught me new perspectives in football, says Maika Hamano.