Europe's wealthy football clubs are sniffing around the hottest young talent in Asia as they scour the worldwide transfer market for prospects that will not break the bank.

With many top sides baulking at hugely inflated prices for European players, clubs are realising there are still plenty of bargains to be had in Asia, which remains largely untapped despite some high-profile exports.

The success of Park Ji-Sung at Manchester United and Shinji Kagawa at Borussia Dortmund, and Japanese star Keisuke Honda's exploits at CSKA

Moscow have convinced European clubs that Asians can deliver.

Players from Asian champions Japan and South Korea, which boast the region's strongest domestic leagues, have inevitably been attracting the most interest from European suitors.

Last week, Bayern Munich snapped up Japanese starlet Takashi Usami, 19, on a one-year loan deal from J-League side Gamba Osaka with a view to a permanent deal.

The attacking midfielder-cum-striker won the J-League Young Player of the Year award last season, when he scored seven goals in 26 league matches.

Bayern will be hoping Usami has the same kind of impact his compatriot Kagawa has had at rivals and German champions Dortmund.

They signed the highly talented 22-year-old last year, taking advantage of a clause in his contract with Japanese club Cerezo Osaka that allowed him to move overseas for free.

Other players have inserted similar clauses into their contracts or simply moved abroad for free after their deals in Japan ended.

The attacking midfielder scored eight goals in 18 league games last season before breaking his foot and is just the latest in a long line of Japanese to successfully make the transition to German football.

A token sum of 350,000 euros ($500,000) was paid in compensation by Dortmund to reflect the club's development of his talent.