Fiorentina in hunt for Catania´s Morimoto: report

Serie A side Fiorentina have joined Manchester United in expressing interest in signing Catania’s Japanese striker Takayuki Morimoto, a report said Monday.

“Fiorentina highly rate Morimoto’s ability,” the Sports Nippon daily reported, citing an informed source.

Morimoto moved to Sicilian side Catania in August 2006 after two years with J-League team Tokyo Verdy. He has scored 12 goals in 56 Serie A games.

The crew-cut 180-centimetre (six-foot) forward earned his debut cap in Japan’s 2-0 win over Scotland and scored his first international goal in a 5-0 drubbing of Togo, both in October.

Morimoto said earlier this month he was flattered by the reported interest from Manchester United, but told Britain’s News of the World there had been no contact between the English giants and his agent.

“Nevertheless, the transfer market does not interest me now but only Catania staying up,” he was quoted as saying by the tabloid weekly. The team are rooted to the bottom of the league with just one win in 16 games.