This summer, nearly 30 players from Japan and South Korea are playing abroad, and the "European journey" continues to thrive.

Written by Han Bing This summer's transfer market in European football is "insane," with exorbitant deals exceeding 70 million euros happening one after another. Neighboring countries of Chinese football, Japan and South Korea, are also experiencing a prosperous summer transfer market, both in terms of transfer fees and the number of players. The J1 League has produced a new record holder for overseas transfers, Takai Kōdai (5.8 million euros, Tottenham). As of August 7, there have been as many as 29 new overseas players from Japan and South Korea this summer, including 22 Japanese players (17 from the J1 League and 5 from the J2 League) and 7 South Korean players (5 from the K1 League and 2 from the K2 League). The number of overseas players from the J1 and J2 leagues continues to remain high at over 25. In contrast, there is still little hope for Chinese players to play abroad.

In the East Asian Cup in July, both Japan and South Korea sent non-overseas players to compete. Japan's center-back Gōshima Yūto and South Korea's midfielder Lee Tae-suk, who started against the national team, are both playing abroad, with the former joining Antwerp in Belgium and Lee Tae-suk transferring to Austria Wien. Japan's midfielder Yamada Shin, who did not play as a substitute, joined Scottish giants Celtic.

Japanese midfielder Yamada Shin

The most exciting overseas achievement for Japanese football this summer is the 20-year-old center-back Takai Kōdai's transfer to Premier League giant Tottenham. Standing at 1.92 meters tall, Takai represents a new trend for Japanese players abroad: among the 22 Japanese players playing overseas this summer, 13 are defenders, making up more than half of the total. Notable players include the Japanese-American goalkeeper Nozawa Daishi, center-back Suzuki Jun'nosuke (Copenhagen, Danish Superliga), Hatake Taiga (Sint-Truiden), Gōshima Yūto (Antwerp), and Onami Takuma (OH Leuven) who joined the Belgian league; Inamura Hayato (Celtic) who joined the Scottish league; and Kawasaki Sōta (Mainz 05), Akiyama Hiroki (Darmstadt), and Matsuda Hayate (Hannover 96) who joined teams in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

Kawasaki Sōta, who joined Mainz

Additionally, attacking players such as Yamada Shin (Celtic, Scottish league), Kitano Sōta (Red Bull Salzburg, Austrian league), Hirakawa Yū (Bristol City, Championship), and Furukawa Yōsuke (Darmstadt, 2. Bundesliga) are also included.

The J1 and J2 leagues have consistently seen over 20 new overseas players in the summer transfer market for three consecutive years, maintaining a stable group advantage. Furthermore, next summer, the J-League will adopt a cross-year system consistent with European leagues, theoretically allowing for an increase in the number of players going abroad in the summer transfer window.

This summer, up to 14 clubs from the J1 and J2 leagues have players going abroad, with Kawasaki Frontale and Shonan Bellmare each having three, while Niigata Swan, Machida Zelvia, and Kyoto Sanga each have two. The J2 league's Mito Hollyhock and Nagasaki Success also have two players going abroad.

Among the 22 Japanese players playing abroad, besides the Premier League and Bundesliga, others are distributed across the Scottish league, Belgian league, Austrian league, Danish Superliga, Swiss Super League, as well as lower leagues like the Championship, 2. Bundesliga, and Portuguese league, continuing the tradition of "casting a wide net."

Matsuzawa Kaito and Hatake Taiga

Among the young Japanese players going abroad this summer, notable names include the Japanese-American goalkeeper Nozawa Daishi, full-back Hatake Taiga, center-back Suzuki Jun'nosuke, midfielders Kawasaki Sōta, Kitano Sōta, winger Hirakawa Yū, and Furukawa Yōsuke. The Japanese-American wing-back Hatake Taiga participated in the 2019 U17 World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics, and this summer, he joined Sint-Truiden, a "stepping stone" for Japanese players in the Belgian league.

Yoon Jae-wook joins Brighton

This summer, only 7 players from the Korean K1 and K2 leagues have gone abroad, which is less than a third of Japan's total, but two have joined the Premier League. The 18-year-old winger Yoon Jae-wook transferred to Brighton and was loaned to Dutch club Rotterdam to gain experience. His transfer fee reached 2.3 million euros, making him another investment in Asian players by Brighton following the success of Mitoma Kaoru. In the 2024 season, he and Liang Min-ge, who joined Tottenham earlier this year, were both named the best newcomers in the K1 league. This year, he led the South Korean team to the semifinals of the U20 Asian Cup, successfully securing a spot in the U20 World Cup.

The 18-year-old player Park Seung-soo, nicknamed "K-Mbappé," has drawn more attention in South Korean football as he joins Newcastle. Before joining the Premier League, he broke several age records in the K League. In 2023, at the age of 16, he became the youngest semi-professional player in the K League. In June of this year, he made his debut in the Korean Cup against Pohang Steelers, becoming the youngest player to appear in the K2 league and the youngest scorer in both the Korean Cup and K League.

Park Seung-soo, who joined Newcastle United

Park Seung-soo is the 20th South Korean player to join the Premier League. His rise to fame began in March last year when the South Korean U17 national team went to Germany for training. During that time, the South Korean team played training matches against Bayern, Red Bull Salzburg, and Hoffenheim's U19 teams. The incredibly fast and skillful Park Seung-soo caught the attention of over 10 clubs. Ultimately, he chose Newcastle, becoming the fourth South Korean U21 player to join the Premier League in recent years, following center-back Kim Ji-soo (Brentford), Liang Min-ge (Tottenham), and Yoon Jae-wook (Brighton).

Last week, during a commercial match in South Korea between Tottenham and Newcastle, Park Seung-soo made his appearance, and both Korean media and Newcastle regard him as the next superstar in South Korean football. However, like other Korean rookies such as Kim Ji-soo and Liang Min-ge, Park Seung-soo will start from the Newcastle U21 team. It is reported that his short-term goal is to increase his weight from 79 kg to 84 kg to adapt to the high intensity of the Premier League.

Left-back Lee Tae-suk, who participated in the East Asian Cup, has joined Austria Wien in the Austrian league, where he will reunite with 23-year-old Lee Kang-in.

In the past, for Korean players going abroad, the Japanese and Chinese leagues and leagues in the Middle East were important destinations. However, now, South Korean football is pushing more new talents to the Premier League, hoping to cultivate another Son Heung-min in a context where they cannot compete with Japan in numbers.

Left-back Lee Tae-suk, who participated in the East Asian Cup from South Korea