is a Japanese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

and the Japan national team.

Club career

Born in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Ko Itakura joined

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

club

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

in 2015, with which he won the 2017 Japanese championship. He was loaned to

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J2 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club'', Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after p ...

in 2018. In January 2019, he joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and was immediately loaned to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

club

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, until the summer of 2020. On 24 July 2020, his stay with Groningen was extended with one more year after both clubs agreed. On 19 August 2021, Itakura signed a season-long loan deal with

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

with an option to make the move permanent for £5 million. At the end of the season, he was promoted to the

with Schalke, but the club did not activate the option due to financial reasons. On 2 July 2022, he returned to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and signed permanently with Bundesliga club

on a €5,000,000 transfer fee.

International career

In May 2017, Itakura was called up to the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 U-20 World Cup. At this tournament, he played 2 matches as defensive midfielder. He was selected for the senior

Japan national football team The , nicknamed the , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Japan was not a major football force until the e ...

for

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...

and made his debut on 20 June 2019 in the game against Uruguay, as a starter. In November 2022, he was selected for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Japan National team for the first time. Participated in all group stage matches and became the first Asian team to win first place in an overseas World Cup group league, contributing to advance to the final tournament for two consecutive tournaments. His long ball was the starting point of the come-from-behind goal against Germany. He was also named in the first group stage best eleven by Spain's 'Marca' and Italy's version of 'Sky Sports'. The former named him one of the players to double his value in the World Cup and described him as "the most consistent performance of the entire tournament".

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.''

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Vegalta Sendai *

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Schalke 04 *

: 2021–22 Individual * TAG Heuer YOUNG GUNS AWARD: 2018 * Groningen player of the year: 2020/21 * Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards: Best XI (2022) Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards

References

External links

* * * * *
Profile at Vegalta Sendai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itakura, Ko 1997 births Living people Association football people from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan youth international footballers Japan under-20 international footballers Japan international footballers J1 League players J3 League players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Kawasaki Frontale players J.League U-22 Selection players Vegalta Sendai players Manchester City F.C. players FC Groningen players FC Schalke 04 players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Association football defenders Footballers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Japan Asian Games medalists in football Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Japan