Hidemasa Morita joins Hull City on a free — the World Cup omission lands in the Premier League

A free transfer, confirmed

Newly promoted Hull City confirmed the signing of Japan midfielder Hidemasa Morita (31) on July 24. His contract with Sporting CP had expired on June 30, so he arrives on a free transfer, signing for two years with a club option for a third. "I can't wait," Morita said after the move was announced. He becomes Hull's fourth signing of the summer.

Sporting let a title-winner leave for nothing

Morita moved to Portugal with Santa Clara in early 2021 and joined Sporting in the summer of 2022, where he became a fixture in central midfield. Across four seasons he made more than 160 competitive appearances, won two Primeira Liga titles and domestic cups, and helped the club reach the Champions League quarter-finals. Losing that kind of player on a free is a blow, and the Portuguese press said as much: the paper A Bola, cited by Goal, called him one of the most valuable players available on a free transfer in Europe this summer, a squad favourite for his work rate and demeanour.

Left out of the World Cup, then a move of his own making

Morita is one of Japan's more established midfielders, with around 40 caps, but he was not in the squad for this summer's North American World Cup. That was a selection call, not an injury; Japanese outlets openly argued he should have been there, pointing to the thinness of Japan's holding-midfield options. His last cap had come back in March 2025. While Japan played out the tournament without him, Morita, a free agent, weighed his next step — and reportedly turned down offers from France and the Middle East, wanting a higher-level league. England was the target.

What Hull City is

This is not a move to an established top-flight side. Hull City came up through the Championship play-offs and are back in the Premier League for the first time in about a decade, facing a survival fight in their first season up. Morita was earlier linked most strongly with Leeds; the deal ended at Hull, where he adds experience to a squad still being assembled. For a 31-year-old chasing a first Premier League chance, a promoted club fighting to stay up is the door that opened.

Two Japanese moves, two different markets

Morita's switch lands in the same week Daizen Maeda's move to Ipswich Town was confirmed — two Japan internationals into the Premier League within days. The terms tell different stories. Maeda, a standout at the World Cup, cost Ipswich a reported £8m rising to as much as £10m. Morita, left out of that same World Cup, left Sporting for nothing. Both take on English football this season; they arrive by very different routes.