Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of signing Kota Takai, and a journalist has now revealed something very interesting about what the Japanese international did in April that will get Spurs fans very excited.
According to reports over the last two days, Spurs have reached a £5m agreement to sign Kota Takai from J League side Kawasaki Frontale, with the confirmation expected from the North London clubs once he completes a medical.
Despite being just 20 years of age, the centre-back has already had two seasons in the J League and has been capped four times by Japan, including in World Cup qualifiers.
It has been revealed that Tottenham’s technical director Johan Lange was the man who identified Takai as a potential target, with the Dane said to be impressed by the youngster’s comfort on either side of central defence.
Takai delivered a masterclass against Cristiano Ronaldo
The defender is making a huge step up this summer, with players rarely tending to make a straight jump from Japanese football to the Premier League.
Some Spurs fans might be sceptical about Takai’s ability to perform at the highest level, but the young defender has already proven his class against world-class attackers in the AFC Champions League.
Japanese football expert Alan Gibson has revealed that the centre-back kept Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran quiet when Kawasaki Frontale produced a shock 3-2 away win against Al Nassr back in April.
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Gibson told talkSPORT: “Some of the highlights you might have seen him in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League when he played against Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran, and basically he had them in his pocket the whole game. I didn’t realise Ronaldo was playing for about 60 minutes.”
Tottenham beat several European clubs to Kota Takai’s signature
It has been reported that Takai rejected Udinese, Borussia Monchengladbach and Hoffenheim in favour of a move to Spurs as the 20-year-old was keen to play in the Premier League.
TBR Football have now revealed that several other European giants, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, have all watched the Japanese defender over recent months.
That suggests that Tottenham have got their hands on an extremely talented youngster, and the club will be hoping that he has a similar impact at N17 to the one Lucas Bergvall had last season.