Overview
- PSV confirmed the signing on Saturday, August 8, 2026, registering Sano on a contract that runs to the summer of 2031 and assigning him shirt number 24.
- Dutch outlets report NEC negotiated a club‑record sale worth roughly €15 million plus performance-related add-ons, though NEC has not publicly confirmed the exact fee.
- PSV sporting director Earnest Stewart described Sano as a dynamic 'number 6' who brings high intensity and room to grow inside coach Peter Bosz’s system.
- The transfer is complete on paper but Sano’s work permit remained unresolved at the announcement, which kept him out of PSV’s opening match.
- Sano moved from Fagiano Okayama to NEC in August 2023 and developed into a key holding midfielder, and his sale strengthens NEC’s recent transfer revenue while giving PSV a new defensive midfield option to integrate.