He begins: “All the talk was about City 2.0 at the time, wasn't it? I think fans and people around the league were a little worried about what that really meant but, from day one, it's just looked effortless.
“It wasn't a surprise that she was put in that position because City looked at the skill set that she had and the way that they wanted to play and sort of naturally saw a role for her.
“But I think it was a real surprise just how easy it looked to her. That centre midfield role is not easy, you've got to be able to read the game, you've got to be just as good tracking back as you are going forward. You've got to be able to see things that no one else on the pitch can see.
“And also, you've got to buy into another new coach’s game plan - that's probably a third or fourth head coach in the last three or four years because she was obviously with AC Milan, then West Ham to now Manchester City.
“That's a lot of information to deal with in your head, a lot of pressure moving to a Club like City.
“It just clicked and that just shows the player that she is. Her understanding of the game clearly surpasses most others that dream of playing in that position.”
Fast forward to present day, and Hasegawa’s remarkable rise shows no signs of slowing down.
In her first three seasons at City, she was included in the PFA WSL Team of the Year three times – voted for by her fellow professionals.
Two Ballon d’Or nominations followed in 2023 and 2024, while she also topped several of the WSL charts in 2024/25 despite the Blues ultimately enduring a disappointing season.
No other player in the league completed more dribbles in the WSL or was involved in more shot-ending sequences, while she also won possession more times than any other player in the league.
In the UEFA Champions League, despite City being knocked out in the quarter-finals, she also finished top in terms of interceptions (19), distance covered (11.7km), fourth for tackles (27) and seventh for duels won (44).
Numbers alone don’t tell the full story of a players’ value to a team, but two other statistics perhaps provide the best example of why Yui is so pivotal at City.
Firstly, she achieved all of that – in the thick of the action at the top of the game – without conceding a single foul in the WSL or Champions League.
Secondly, over her three full seasons at City, she’s featured in 95 of a possible 99 matches.