Who is Spurs target Takai?
Japanese defender Kota Takai is set to join Tottenham from Kawasaki Frontale for £5m – a record fee for a J-League player moving abroad - but who is he?Takai has a wealth of experience for his age, playing the first of his 77 senior games in the Asian equivalent of the Champions League at just 17-years-old.He featured at the 2024 Olympic Games for Japan and has since won four senior caps, with his debut coming in a 7-0 victory over China just a day after his 20th birthday in September 2024.He is athletic, 6ft 3 inches tall, comfortable on the ball and has an eye for a pass. Takai has completed almost 2,000 passes in the J-League since the start of last season with an 88% success rate, which ranks him 15th among all defenders.In April, he showcased many of his qualities when he marked Cristiano Ronaldo as Frontale defeated Al-Nassr 3-2 in the AFC Champions League Elite semi-final.Spurs fans of a certain vintage will remember the club's only previous Japanese player, Kazuyuki Toda. He joined on loan from Shimizu S-Pulse in January 2003 and made just four appearances under then manager Glenn Hoddle.It's fair to say that much bigger things are expected of Takai.How to get news notifications on your club
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