is a Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who can play as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, currently playing for

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

club Fagiano Okayama.

Club career

Cerezo Osaka

During the 2011/12 season, Nagai made his

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

debut as a 74th-minute substitute for

Cerezo Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of Osaka. ...

against Chinese club Shandong Luneng on 10 May 2011. Cerezo Osaka won the group G match 4–0 at the Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan.

Perth Glory

On 28 September 2012 it was announced that Nagai had signed with

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

for a season long loan deal. He played his first game for Perth Glory coming of the bench in the team's 1–0 loss to the Central Coast Mariners. During his first season with the Glory, Ryo found it hard to break into the starting team under then coach Ian Ferguson. His playing time was greatly restricted until Ferguson stood down in February and Perth Glory appointed Alistair Edwards as his replacement. Under Edwards, Nagai flourished and his performances improved with each game played and Nagai contributed to Glory's surprise push for the A-League finals. On 5 July 2013 it was announced that

and

had finally agreed to a new loan deal for Ryo to spend the 2013/14 A-League season with the Western Australian club. Upon the announcement of the signing, Perth Glory head coach, Alistair Edwards, told the media that Ryo had become one of the family and highlighted his versatility in attack as one of the major reasons Glory were keen to secure his signature for a second time. On 11 January 2014

and Nagai parted company with the Western Australian club terminating the speedy winger's loan contract. Nagai was unable to participate in the remainder of the A-League season after suffering a serious hamstring tear in Perth's round 11 0–0 draw with Adelaide United. It was mutually agreed that Nagai would be best served in his recovery by returning to Japan to parent club

. Perth Glory CEO, Jason Brewer, praised Nagai for being a fantastic player, citing Ryo's attacking flair on his departure from the club as the main reason why in just two years Nagai had become a firm fan favourite. Nagai responded to his departure from the club in an equally positive fashion, stating "I have met some great people here and I will take all the positive experiences I have learnt at Perth back to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

with me". On 26 December 2016, Nagai signed for Nagoya Grampus.

International career

Ryo Nagai has previously represented and captained Japan at U-19 level.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Profile at Matsumoto Yamaga

*
Profile at Cerezo OsakaPerth Glory profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagai, Ryo 1991 births Living people Association football people from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese men's footballers J1 League players J2 League players A-League Men players Cerezo Osaka players Perth Glory FC players Oita Trinita players V-Varen Nagasaki players Nagoya Grampus players Matsumoto Yamaga FC players Sanfrecce Hiroshima players Fagiano Okayama players Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from Nishinomiya