Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on their second signing of the summer transfer window after agreeing a deal to sign Kawasaki Frontale centre-back Kota Takai.
football.london understands that Spurs have agreed a £5million deal with the Japanese club and Takai is expected to be part of Thomas Frank's first-team squad.
The 20-year-old is set to join Mathys Tel through the door at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer after the forward's loan move was made permanent.
Here, football.london brings you a lowdown of Spurs' new centre-back including a tasty encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo...
Who is Kota Takai?
Born in Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Takai is a 20-year-old central defender who has already made a name for himself in Japan. After playing his youth football for River FC, the 2004-born defender was signed by Kawasaki Frontale.
Having developed through their academy, he made his senior debut in an 8-0 win over Guangzhou in April 2022. The 2022/23 season was his breakthrough campaign during which he featured 21 times before scoring his first goal for the club in May 2024.
After reaching the 2024 Olympic Games quarter-final with Japan, the defender was handed his fully-fledged national team debut in September 2024 when he replaced Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Ko Itakura in a 7-0 win against China.
In the recent international break, he played 21 minutes in a narrow defeat to Australia and the full 90 against Indonesia, a game they won 6-0. Takai spent this summer representing his country at Under-23 level at the AFC Asian Cup and helped them win the tournament thanks to a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in the final.
In April, Takai showcased his quality against Ronaldo when Frontale faced Al Nassr in the semi-final of the AFC Champions League Elite. The Japanese team won 3-2 against Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and co with Takai earning plenty of plaudits.
"Honestly, we were losing individually as a team, but I think we won today because of our organised fighting style, which is typical of Japan," he claimed, despite admitting he wasn't pleased with his own performance. "I'm not satisfied with my play today, so I hope I can play in a way that will save the team in the final."
How will he fit into Spurs?
Spurs fans will know that Takai isn't the first young, unknown gem picked up by Spurs. The north Londoners have snapped up Luka Vuskovic, Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall, Min-hyeok Yang, Antonin Kinsky, Ashley Phillips and Alejo Veliz in recent years.
Vuskovic has been out on loan in both Poland and Belgium since joining the club but can now officially make the move from Hajduk Split now he is 18.
New head coach Frank arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a number of solid centre-back options with Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven expected to be his first-choice, despite the former being linked with a move away.
Danso's permanent arrival joins Radu Dragusin, although the Romanian is currently nursing an ACL injury picked up in February. Ben Davies and Gray have been used as makeshift centre-backs but it's unclear how Frank will utilise them going forward.