Wanderers hope their pioneering swoop for Japanese striker Akinori Nishizawa will prove a smart move both on and off the field.

The 25-year-old's one-year deal makes him the first Japanese player ever to play in the Premiership. And while the primary objective is to reap a handsome goal return from the transfer, Wanderers' business brains are also hoping to reap a financial windfall from the deal. Nishizawa arrives with impressive playing credentials. He is a regular in the Japanese national side for which he has scored eight goals in 15 appearances, he has just had a successful six-month loan spell with Spanish club Espanol and his club Cerezo Osaka wanted him to stay with them next season after missing out on the J League title by just one point.

His arrival has sparked massive interest back home where the English Premiership is hugely popular.

Nishizawa is his club's star player and one of the top two strikers in Japan with explosive pace and impressive aerial ability listed among his strengths alongside natural goalscoring ability. And one look at the Reebok Stadium convinced him he made the right move to showcase his talents.

"I am very honoured to be the first Japanese player to come to the Premiership," he explained through a translator. "I am just hoping that I am a success.

"After playing in Spain I wanted to come back to Europe but it depended on the club," he said.

"I have been very impressed with the facilities. I think it is a great stage to play my football on.

"I think it is a faster game and more open than the Spanish game so I will have more opportunities to score goals."

Wanderers also have opportunities to capitalise financially on having the Premiership's first Japanese player.

As one of the biggest stars in his home land there is a huge commercial potential for Wanderers to tap into.

They will look at the merchandising success Roma enjoyed when they signed Japan's number one star Nakata, the Italian Serie A club selling £3m worth of shirts alone to the Japanese market.

While Nakata and Roma are bigger names than Nishizawa and Bolton Wanderers, Wanderers have an advantage over Roma in that they have the 'Reebok' name on their merchandise and the Bolton-founded international sportswear company is one of the most popular brands in Japan.

Merchandising is not the only money-making area Wanderers can pursue on the back on Nishizawa's signing.

It also opens the way for sponsorship and advertising from Japanese companies as well as the possibility of selling archive Wanderers TV footage which is at least 24 hours old to the Japanese market.

Wanderers stress the only reason they signed the player was for his footballing ability but they hope he will have a commercial spin-off which could make them money and spread the word of Bolton Wanderers to another continent.