It is impossible to properly assess how each team will fare more than a month ahead of the start of the 2014 J. League season, but Cerezo Osaka have reason to be quietly confident about the year ahead.
Cerezo made global headlines last week with the news that 2010 World Cup Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan was on the brink of signing with the club, and there can be little doubt that the arrival of the 34-year-old Uruguayan would catapult the Osaka side into another stratosphere.
But whether or not Forlan actually signs, Cerezo already have the foundations in place to challenge for a first-ever title.
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