Whenever you read about Western sides signing Japanese, Korean or Chinese players, thoughts immediately race towards a foregone conclusion: they might be useful on the pitch but are perhaps more important for the opportunities (usually branded as 'endless' in the eternally optimistic mood of commercial exploitation) that their presence sparks in the merchandising and sponsorship departments of said clubs.
Some of those players may indeed have been a little more than curiosities, but others have proved they could more than live up to their reputations.
Take Hidetoshi Nakata, for example.
Bologna did, as soon as the winter transfer window opened, signing him on a six-month loan from Parma with a view on a permanent transfer.
The Rossublu were struggling mightily, dragging their feet through a muddy field of poor performances and less than inspiring attacking play.
Their 3-2 home win against hopeless Ancona on December 8 had given them some breathing space, but the manner with which it had been achieved had left a sour taste: up 1-0 after a handful of seconds thanks to a grotesque own goal by Brazilian defender Bilica, Bologna scored twice more before the hour then took their pedal off the floor and let Ancona get back into the game.
It ended with the Rossublu (red & blue) desperately defending their lead, hurrying clearances and losing possession with a collective body language that betrayed a deep-rooted anxiety.
That the fans could barely conceal their anger at seeing their team being run rugged by a side that will plunge into the Serie B without even pulling their weight - no pun about newly-signed and ample-girthed Grabbi and Jardel intended - added to the numb feelings everyone at the stadium already had because of the freezing cold.
That low point in the season, which was followed by a home defeat by Inter and another dour 0-0 away, heightened Coach Carlo Mazzone's perception that his team needed a someone who could hold the ball in midfield long enough for teammates to join him and break the ultra-defensive, anxious attitude that Bologna had been entangling themselves into.
With local fan favourite Tomas Locatelli injured and still not mature enough, Mazzone and the club's directors drew their bead on Nakata, who at that time was midway through a third and mostly disappointing season at Parma, one hour away on the busy A14 highway.
Nakata had never adapted well to Parma coach Cesare Prandelli's plan to play him mostly on the flanks, and had not held down a regular place in his side this season.
His last match in a Parma shirt had been as a second half substitute in the 1-2 defeat by Reggina on December 20, but his contribution had gone largely unnoticed.
As Mazzone had mentored Nakata during the Japanese player's second season in Italy, at Perugia, they had a long-standing, mutual respect - although Nakata has admitted he has only now started to understand what his coach's manic screams at pitchside really meant - and more importantly Mazzone had clearly stated that he'd play him in central midfield, to take better advantage of his skills and his refined right foot.
At 27, Nakata is still in his prime and the warm welcome he's received in Bologna may actually help him rediscover his best form.
On the day of his first training session a few hundred fans flocked to Bologna's usually quiet sports centre at Casteldebole, a southwest suburb of the city, and regular visitors had to go back to 1997-98, when Roberto Baggio donned the Rossublu shirt, to remember a similar level of enthusiasm.
It can be said that Nakata is one of the biggest stars to join Bologna in recent seasons: after going bankrupt twelve years ago, Bologna were purchased by wealthy local businessman Giuseppe Gazzoni Frascara and enjoy the status of one of the Serie A's best-run clubs.
The downside of this has obviously been a constant reliance on players on loan from bigger clubs, which has frustrated some of the home fans, who apparently could not care less about accounting responsibility until the other day, when they issued a statement supporting Gazzoni's quest for a cleaner, fiscally more conscientious Italian football.
Which unfortunately could be a pipe dream since many parties are all too interested in keeping waters as muddy as possible.
In all this, Nakata has provided a bright spark and he's already a celebrity in Bologna, his name blinking from Monday morning's bills advertising the local newspaper, Il Resto del Carlino, which wrote 'Nakata's Bologna beats Chievo', identifying now the club with its best-known and most skilful player.
Not that this should come as a surprise, despite Hide's undistinguished spell at Parma. He'd arrived in Italy as a 21-year-old in the summer of 1998, right after impressing for Japan in the World Cup.
Many thought he'd be just another publicity coup by flamboyant Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci but his start in the Serie A was little short of dramatic, with a couple of goals against Juventus and another eight in 33 first team matches.
His progress earned him a mid-season move to Roma in January 2000, and fifteen months later Nakata won the Scudetto with the Roman side, earning kudos with a string of good performances and a crucial contribution in the six-pointer at Juventus in early May.
Nakata came on for Totti no less, a quarter of an hour into the second half, with Juventus leading 2-0 and the Giallorossi title chances fading away (you do not want to go head-to-head with Juve in the final weeks of the season, although Lazio had managed just that a year before).
He scored with a powerful right-footer from the edge of the area with eleven minutes to go, then had another pile-driver in injury time which Juventus goalkeeper Edwin Var der Sar spilled, Vincenzo Montella pouncing on the loose ball to stab it in and set Roma on their way to the Scudetto.
Nakata had moved to Parma a few months later, but never established himself as an 'untouchable' and now he's taken his skills to Bologna, and along with them the huge commercial onus - there it is - of his mere presence.
But all the mercantile side-effects are just that, right now: it may be nice to hear that 5000 Bologna shirts with his name and number (16) have already been shipped to the Far East, that a throng of Japanese journalists - with whom, oddly, the intensely private Nakata speaks rarely and only in Italian - has now shifted their attention and residence from Parma to Casteldebole.
His passion for the internet, fashion and hair-dyeing has made him a truly XXI century man - whatever that means, but above all of this stands one undisputed truth: under-utilised by Parma, though results have more than vindicated coach Prandelli's choice to omit him from many starting line-ups.
Nakata was hand-picked by Bologna and Mazzone for his midfield prowess, his attacking instincts, his eye for the right pass at the right time - he has already created two goals in Bologna's perfect record since he became a starter - and all this adds up to the comforting truth that he may be a 'one-man company', as some have described him, but he's first and foremost a very good footballer, and he may have found the right team for his ambitions.
His next match for Bologna will be in Parma next Sunday. Just imagine if...