Ko Itakura

Ko Itakura (板倉 滉, Itakura Kō, born 27 January 1997) is a Japanese footballer who plays as centre back or defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and the Japan national team.[3]

Ko Itakura
Itakura with Vegalta Sendai in 2018
Personal information
Full name Ko Itakura[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997[1]
Place of birth Yokohama, Japan
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Borussia Mönchengladbach
Number 3
Youth career
2006–2014 Kawasaki Frontale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Kawasaki Frontale 7 (0)
2015 → J. League U-22 (loan) 2 (0)
2018 → Vegalta Sendai (loan) 24 (3)
2019–2022 Manchester City 0 (0)
2019–2021 → FC Groningen (loan) 56 (1)
2021–2022 → Schalke 04 (loan) 31 (4)
2022– Borussia Mönchengladbach 28 (2)
International career‡
2013 Japan U16 2 (0)
2015–2017 Japan U20 8 (1)
2018–2021 Japan U23 24 (6)
2019– Japan 22 (1)
Medal record
Representing  Japan
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place2018 Jakarta-PalembangTeam
AFC U-19 Championship
Gold medal – first place2016 Bahrain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

Club career

Born in Yokohama, Itakura joined J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale in 2015, with which he won the 2017 Japanese championship.

He was loaned to Vegalta Sendai in 2018.

In January 2019, he joined Premier League club Manchester City and was immediately loaned to Eredivisie club Groningen, until the summer of 2020.[4] On 24 July 2020, his stay with Groningen was extended with one more year after both clubs agreed.[5]

On 19 August 2021, Itakura signed a season-long loan deal with 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04 with an option to make the move permanent for £5 million.[6] At the end of the season, he was promoted to the Bundesliga with Schalke, but the club did not activate the option due to financial reasons.[7]

On 2 July 2022, he returned to Germany and signed permanently with Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach for a €5 million transfer fee.

On August 19 2023, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga against Augsburg, and on September 2, he scored a goal against Bayern Munich, which had the most wins and were the champions of the previous year.[8] On September 8th, he was selected as the team's MVP for August.[9]

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 for 2019 Copa América and made his debut on 20 June 2019 in the game against Uruguay, as a starter.[10]

On March 29, 2021, he scored two goals against the Argentina national under-24 football team, and was also selected to represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing in 4th place.[11]

In November 2022, he was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Japan National team for the first time.[12] 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'.[13] 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".[14]

On March 28, 2023, he served as captain for the first time in the second match of the second term of Moriyasu Japan against Colombia.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 September 2023[16][17][18][1][19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental[lower-alpha 3] Other[lower-alpha 4] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kawasaki Frontale 2015 J1 League 000000––00
2016 J1 League 203010–1070
2017 J1 League 50304031–151
Total 7060503110221
Vegalta Sendai (loan)2018 J1 League 2434040––323
Manchester City 2018–19 Premier League 00000000–00
Groningen (loan) 2018–19 Eredivisie 0000–––00
2019–20 Eredivisie 22010–––230
2020–21 Eredivisie 34110––10361
Total 56120––10591
Schalke 04 (loan) 2021–22 2. Bundesliga 31410–––324
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2022–23 Bundesliga 25010–––260
2023–24 Bundesliga 3210–––42
Total 28220–––302
Career total 1461015090312017511
  1. Includes Emperor's Cup, KNVB Cup
  2. Includes J.League Cup
  3. Includes AFC Champions League
  4. Includes J1 League Championship, Eredivisie European play-offs

International
As of match played 9 September 2023.[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan 201930
202010
202111
2022110
202350
Total211

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first

List of international goals scored by Ko Itakura
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
128 May 2021Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba, Japan Myanmar10–010–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale

Vegalta Sendai

Schalke 04

Individual

  • TAG Heuer YOUNG GUNS AWARD: 2018
  • Groningen Player of the Year: 2020/21 [22]
  • Borussia's Player of the Month: August 2023

References
  1. Ko Itakura at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  2. "Ko Itakura". Borussia Mönchengladbach. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  3. "Ko Itakura". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  4. "Akkoord FC Groningen met Manchester City over Japanner Itakura". FC Groningen (in Dutch). 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  5. "Het nieuws uit Groningen - RTV Noord". 24 July 2020.
  6. "Ko Itakura joins Schalke on loan with an option to buy". FC Schalke 04. 19 August 2021.
  7. "Great person and player – Schalke 04 bid farewell to Ko Itakura". FC Schalke 04. 31 May 2022.
  8. "Akira Itakura celebrates his second goal of the season" (in German). 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  9. "Itakura named Borussia's Player of the Month for August". Borussia Mönchengladbach. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. "Uruguay v Japan game report". CONMEBOL. 20 June 2019.
  11. "SAISON CARD CUP 2021". JFA. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  12. "SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) squad - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™". 8 December 2022.
  13. "Japan national team, Ko Itakura, followed by Spanish newspaper, Italian newspaper also selected as "Best Eleven" in World Cup Group League Round 1!(JP)". 8 December 2022.
  14. "Japan national team defender whose value doubled in the World Cup Aggressiveness and good defense with foresight Spanish newspaper highly praises". 9 December 2022.
  15. "Japan v Colombia game report". JFA. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  16. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 96 out of 289)
  17. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 28 out of 289)
  18. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑", 10 February 2016, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411338 (p. 55 out of 289)
  19. Ko Itakura at WorldFootball.net
  20. Ko Itakura at National-Football-Teams.com
  21. "Schalke crowned 2021/22 Bundesliga 2 champions". 15 May 2022.
  22. "Football ITAKURA Kou - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
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