Days after Arsenal announced the departure of Japanese defender, Takehiro Tomiyasu, local rivals Tottenham Hotspurs have announced the signing of Japanese international, Kota Takai from J1 League side Kawasaki Frontale. Softfootball understands that the player signed a 5 year deal till 2030.
Announcing the player via their website, Tottenham mentioned that Takai has featured for Japan across multiple age groups and, in 2024, helped his country to glory at the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup.
Takai also represented his country at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament. He made his senior debut in September 2024, in a World Cup qualifying fixture against China, earning four caps for his country to date.
The 20-year-old is a regular in the senior side after growing through the ranks at Kawasaki Frontale and making a debut for the club at just age 17 in 2022. He would go ahead to make 21 appearances the following campaign including four outings in the team’s run to lifting the 2023 Japanese Cup (Emperor’s Cup).
An imposing figure at the back, Kota continued to impress and helped the Azzurro Nero to the 2024 Japanese Super Cup. Later that year, he earned recognition for his performances, claiming the J.League’s Best Young Player award.
Takai made a total of 81 senior appearances in all competitions, scoring on four occasions and, last term, helped his team to the 2025 AFC Champions League final. The lanky defender will now join an interesting list of 17 Japanese players to have graced the Premier League over the years.
Names like Shinji Kagawa, Junichi Inamoto, Kazuyuki Toda, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ryo Miyaichi, Maya Yoshida, Shinji Okazaki, Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma, Wataru Endo are some of the players to make a mark in the league.
Tottenham’s new boss, Thomas Frank is working to add enough quality to his team ahead of 2025/26 season as the North Londoners are also chasing attacking players including Ghana star, Mohammad Kudus. Softfootball in an earlier report narrated that Kudus and two other players were set to join Spurs before the week ends.
Tottenham Hotspur are yet to officially announce any new signings this summer; however, there have been behind-the-scenes movements to bolster the squad ahead of a demanding 2025/26 campaign.
But according to London Football, the North London-based side has been making moves to bring in players needed by Thomas Frank ahead of the new season.
