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 ...

currently playing as a

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

FC Tokyo Football Club Tokyo, commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team is one of only four in the J.League to be si ...

Club career

Born in

Muroran is a city and port located in Iburi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Iburi Subprefecture. As of February 29, 2012, the city has an estimated population of 93,716, with 47,868 households and a population density of . The ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, Matsuki followed in his older brother's footsteps by joining local side Muroran Osawa FC. Matsuki trained with French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

in 2021. Following this trial, he returned to Japan to lift the

2021 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament The 2021 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament (All Japan JFA 100th High School Soccer Tournament (Japanese: 第100回全国高等学校サッカー選手権大会)) marked the 100th edition of the referred annually contested cup for High Schoo ...

for Aomori Yamada High School, scoring in both the semi-final and final. Initially set to move to Europe to pursue a professional career, it was announced that Matsuki would sign for

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 ...

side

ahead of the 2022 season. Matsuki stated that a major influence on his decision to stay in Japan was current FC Tokyo player

Yuto Nagatomo is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a full back for Japanese club FC Tokyo and the Japan national team. A graduate from the Meiji University, Nagatomo started his professional career with FC Tokyo in 2007, quickly establish ...

, who also started his career with Tokyo before moving to Europe. In November 2023, Matsuki was named AFC Youth Player of the Year following an impressive season for FC Tokyo as well as captaining the national U-20 team.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

International under-20 goals International under-23 goals

Honours

Japan U23 *

AFC U-23 Asian Cup The AFC U-23 Asian Cup, previously the AFC U-22 Championship (in 2013) and AFC U-23 Championship (between 2016 and 2020), is a biennial international football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 n ...

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

Individual * AFC Youth Player of the Year: 2023

References

2003 births Living people Association football people from Hokkaido Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders J1 League players FC Tokyo players People from Muroran

External links

* * {{Japan-footy-midfielder-2000s-stub