Inamoto: Gunner go to Perugia? (MarkDadswell/Allsport)

Inamoto, who has been told he is surplus to requirements by English champions Arsenal, has also attracted interest from premier league club Fulham, Dutch side Feyenoord and Atalanta of Italy.

But Perugia, who signed Japan playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata after the 1998 World Cup, are the first club to make a formal offer. Nakata went on to join AS Roma before moving to Parma for £17 million last summer.

'We will make a decision as far as narrowing down possible clubs before the end of the month,' Nobuaki Tanabe said.

Inamoto, who scored two goals as co-hosts Japan reached the second round of the World Cup, could make a temporary return to Gamba Osaka later this month after leaving the J-League club to join Arsenal for £4 million last July.

However, Gamba officials were tight-lipped on the subject, insisting there would be no official word until Inamoto had signed for another club.

Perugia made headlines recently when chairman Luciano Gaucci fired South Korea striker Ahn Jung-hwan after he scored the golden goal that knocked Italy out of the World Cup.

Tanabe confirmed, meanwhile, that Inamoto, who did not play a single premier league game for Arsenal, would only join a club where he would be able to get regular first-team football.

Inamoto played just four times for the London club, twice in the English League Cup and twice as a substitute in the Champions League.