You, Son Heung-min, be a teammate...Ronaldo Erased Supernova Centerback Goes to Tottenham in a surprise move with J-League Record (9.2 billion)
Jun 24, 2025
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Japanese sports magazine `Sponichi' reported on the 24th (local time) that Takai is highly likely to move to English Premier League (EPL) club Tottenham. On the same day, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano posted 'Here We Go' on his personal SNS, which means completion of the transfer.
The media also introduced a specific transfer fee, saying, `Takai is expected to transfer to 5 million pounds (about 9.2 billion won, including bonuses), the highest ever among Japanese players who have transferred overseas from the J-League.'
The previous highest transfer fee in the J-League was 5.4 million euros (current exchange rate of about 8.5 billion won) recorded when Kyogo Furuhashi (Stadren) moved from Kawasaki to Celtic in 2021.
Takai, who was born in 2004 and boasts a solid build of 1m92 and 90kg, is a 'next generation centerback' who has been active in Japan's A national team since last year through various age groups in Japan. He participated in the 2023 U-20 World Cup, 2024 Paris Olympics, and 2026 North Korea-China World Cup qualifiers.
A former Kawasaki Youth player, he was called up as a professional team in 2022 and scored two goals in 24 games as a starting player in the 2024 season, and won the J-League Best Young Player Award that year.
In particular, he backed his team's 3-2 surprise victory in May with a defense that kept his opponent's key striker Ronaldo scoreless in the semifinals of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) against Al Nasr.
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Then "Ronaldo penetrated into places I would hate. I also felt like I was running to a place that I wouldn't be able to go"So I changed my approach and didn't let him run."
The close-up mark worked. Ronaldo disappeared from the stadium after his 34th minute header. He faced a decisive chance in front of the gate in the last half of the second half, but he missed in vain. Ronaldo was also seen talking to himself on the ground, perhaps because he was shocked after failing to advance to the finals.
Takai, who has already played four A matches, seems to be planning a new challenge a year before the North Korea-China World Cup finals. Takai is attracting attention from leading European clubs such as Tottenham, Italy's Udinese, Germany's Borussia Mönchengladbach and Hoffenheim.
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Currently, the Korea-Japan duo who are eating a bowl of rice in Europe include Kim Min-jae and Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Hwang In-beom and Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), and Yang Hyun-joon and Maeda Daizen (Celtic). In Kawasaki, Takaido, I worked with Korean gatekeeper Jung Sung-ryong.
If Takai wears a Tottenham uniform, he will become the third Japanese center back to play in the EPL after Maya Yoshida (currently LAFC) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arnall).
Currently, Tottenham, led by new coach Thomas Frank, has Christian Romero, Mickey van der Penn and Ben Davies. However, Romero is constantly receiving attention from other clubs such as Atletico Madrid, so it is unclear whether he will stay next season. There is a need for a new center back.
Tottenham secured a ticket to the Champions League next season by winning the European Europa League (UEL) in the 2024-2025 season.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
