A summer 2022 arrival from West Ham, the Japan international has cemented her status as a classy engine room operator across 61 appearances for the Club while also gaining praise from team-mates and fans alike.
Last term, her 30 outings was the joint-most across her colleagues and her displays earned her a place in the PFA Team of the Year for the second straight term.
Thanks to those sparkling performances, she also received a a second successive nomination for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award in September.
And Taylor says her development in defensive midfield is due to her commitment and willingness to adapt to a new position.
“She’s a specialist midfielder,” he declared.
“When you talk about best in the world is it including attacking players which is different to what we expect from Yui.
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“When you talk about holding midfielders, she’s in that ballpark.
“When she arrived we changed her position to a number six, it took time but she hit the ground running and that’s testament to her and how she sacrificed herself for the team from playing in a higher position.
“At first she longed to go back there but now she’s happy she’s in that reckoning of being one of the best holding midfield players in the world.
“She deserves it because she’s very important to how we want to play with and without the ball. Her ability on the ball and to recognise she can sometimes sacrifice herself for the team, this is what’s happening now teams are starting to try to take her out he game and you understand why, it just means someone else will be free.
“She’s very intelligent, has some Japanese teammates around her as well which is good. It will challenge her in that respect and she understands what we’re doing. She’s been helpful in helping Yama and Risa and Aoba.”
Watch Taylor’s full press conference in the video player above!
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Gareth Taylor’s side welcome the Hammers to the Joie Stadium on Sunday 6 October, with kick-off scheduled for 13:00 (UK).
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