Ed Odeven 
Kawasaki Frontale's Kota Takai (2) and Vissel Kobe's Yuya Osako vie for the ball during a J.League match on April 16, 2025, at Noevir Stadium Kobe. (©SANKEI)
Up-and-coming defender Kota Takai is on the verge of joining the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur.
According to published reports that surfaced on Monday, June 23, Tottenham and the J.League's Kawasaki Frontale have finalized an agreement for a £5 million GBP (nearly ¥1 billion JPY, or $6.8 million USD) transfer fee for Takai. It would be the highest fee paid for a Japanese player to move to an overseas professional club.
A native of Yokohama, the 192-cm (6-foot-4) Takai made his J.League debut for Frontale in 2023.
The 20-year-old center-back earned the J.League's Best Young Player award for the 2024 season.
In the 2025 season, Takai has been a fixture in the Frontale lineup. He's scored two goals, both on headers, in 19 matches against league foes.
His Frontale contract runs through January 2026.
International Experience for Kota Takai
Takai, who turns 21 on September 4, competed for the Japan Under-23 squad at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He was Japan's youngest player on the Olympic squad, and its first teenage footballer to play in the Olympics since Shinji Kagawa and Maya Yoshida competed at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Prior to that, he was a key player for the squad at the 2024 U23 Asian Cup.
Takai has already earned four caps for the Samurai Blue, aka the Japan men's senior national soccer squad. He made his Samurai Blue debut in a 7-0 drubbing of China on September 5, 2024 at Saitama Stadium, coming off the bench in the 71st minute.
Most recently, he was in the starting lineup for Japan's final 2026 World Cup Asian qualifier against Indonesia on June 10 in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The Samurai Blue, who had qualified for the World Cup in March, won 6-0.
Getting a chance to start for the national team, even in a match that was meaningless on paper, was a big deal to Takai.
"I'm glad we managed to keep a clean sheet as a team," Takai told reporters after Japan's convincing victory. "I played a few successful vertical passes and I'm happy with my attacking play, too."
He added, "Compared to the previous match [against Australia on June 5], there was more space between defense and attack, allowing me to get behind the lines more easily. However, I want to be able to play like that against stronger opponents. With only a year left until the World Cup, I intend to keep improving so that I can make the final squad."
A Look Ahead
Tottenham, led by first-year manager Thomas Frank, opens its 2025 Premier League campaign on August 16 against Burnley. The North London club also earned a spot in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 triumph over Manchester United in the second-tier Europa League final on May 27.
In his squad's buildup for the start of the new season, Frank will test Kota Takai and other newcomers along with the team's returning players to determine his general plan for who'll comprise the starting lineup. This will also factor into who should be expected to serve as key substitutes as the season gets underway.
Did You Know?
Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) and Reo Hatate (Celtic FC) are among the former Frontale players now plying their craft in Europe.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
