Shimizu S-Pulse are rightly regarded as one of the most astute J-League clubs when it comes to signing young talent. One look at their current squad, which contains the likes of Jungo Fujimoto, Naoki Aoyama, Akihiro Hyodo and Shinji Okazaki, is enough to convince many young players that S-Pulse is the destination of choice to kick-start their career.

Still, even by their standards, S-Pulse have managed to pull of a major coup by signing the wonderfully named Genki Omae. The fact that this kid is nicknamed 'Lionel' - after Lionel Messi, speaks volumes.

It's not just that Omae stands a diminutive 1.66 metres tall. He also scores goals by the bucket-load. He recently hit the net an impressive seven times in steering Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa to the All-Japan High School tournament title. He scored twice in the final in front of 48,884 fans at the National Stadium in Tokyo, as RKU Kashiwa bulldozed Fujieda Higashi 4-0 at a frosty Kokuritsu to take home the title.

Despite also signing Brazilians Marcos Paulo Alves and Marcos Aurélio, all the talk around the club is about Omae. While not wishing to put pressure on a youngster that hasn't even kicked a ball in professional football, club officials are quietly hoping that Omae can fill the long-term boots of recently departed Korean star Cho Jae-Jin.

With S-Pulse having also snapped up midfielder Takuya Honda - who featured regularly in the Japan Olympic team's successful qualification campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shimizu fans could be forgiven for dreaming of the start of a dynasty. For now, at least, they'd settle for that elusive J-League title.