SWINDON Town manager Phil Brown would be “delighted” to sign trialist Eijin Kishimoto, but admits he does not know whether he will be able to retain the Japanese player’s services on a full-time basis.

Kishimoto has been training with Town this week following the end of his season with Sporting AZ FC in the US as Brown seeks to potentially bolster his squad with free transfers.

The 23-year-old, from Nagoya in Japan, originally joined the United Premier Soccer League side earlier this year, having been at Meiji University in Tokyo.

Brown has been impressed by what he has seen from Kishimoto, who can operate as a full-back or wing-back, since his arrival in Wiltshire, but the prospect of signing him permanently remains up in the air.

“His status at the moment is out of contract,” said Brown.

“Now that the (transfer) window is closed, what trading can we do? There are players out there that are free transfers that haven’t been re-engaged before the window closed.

“Where Eijin is concerned, I have a friend who is managing in America. Their season is up and he recommended him to have a look at. He has impressed in the last week in a trial.

“I don’t know yet where it goes. I have investigated quite a number of avenues and I am still waiting for one or two doors to open.

“It is what it is. It is one of these slight possibilities at the moment.

“If it becomes a distinct possibility, I will be on the first on the phone to you because I will be delighted with it, because he looks like a decent player who can play in one or two positions.”

Brown has been particularly impressed by Kishimoto’s mentality and work ethic and believes he would be a valuable addition to the Town squad should a deal come to fruition.

“You always hire on ability and fire on attitude. It is the other way around with this lad. His attitude is absolutely what I want from every player coming through the ranks at 16,” said Brown.

“He works tirelessly on the training ground and wants to do more when you’ve finished the training session.

“He has got a fantastic attitude, but you could probably say that about the nation he is from – Japan have that type of mentality.

“If you couple that with ability, my word you have got one hell of a player on your hands.

“But we are talking about the second division here. I am not talking about having a world beater on your hands, but we are just investigating every avenue that I possibly can do to see whether there is some kind of mileage in the player.”