Football: Mitoma aims to toughen up for Europe-bound Brighton

Touching down in Tokyo following a successful first year in the English Premier League, Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma vowed to get physically stronger before his next season in arguably the world’s toughest professional football competition.

The 26-year-old attacking dynamo played a big role in Brighton achieving their best-ever finish of sixth place, securing European qualification for the first time in the club’s 122-year history.

He scored seven league goals, with a scorching mid-range effort against Leicester in January among the most memorable.

“The biggest thing was that I was able to experi...