Football: Japan defender Takai joins Tottenham on 5-year deal
The 20-year-old, capped four times by the Samurai Blue and named the 2024 J-League's best young player, joins the Europa League champions led by new manager Thomas Frank.
The 192-centimeter Takai came through Kawasaki's renowned youth development program and played for Japan at the Paris Olympics last summer before making his senior national team debut in September.
Spurs are looking to bounce back from their 17th-place finish in the Premier League last term under former Yokohama F Marinos boss Ange Postecoglou, who was dismissed over the summer despite his success on the continent.
"I'm expecting lots of situations where I'll be marking man-to-man, and how I manage to defend against strong forwards on my own will be the most important thing," Takai said recently ahead of his move to the Premier League.
"I'm not too worried about my build-up play. I'm looking forward to how much I can do defensively."
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