Huddersfield Town

England will be the third country that new signing Yuta Nakayama has played high-level club football in, adding to some compelling international football for Japan.

At only 25, he boasts 200 career appearances across the top divisions in his native country and in the Netherlands ahead of his move to Town, as well as 16 senior caps for his nation.

Yuta was born in Ibaraki, Japan, which is around an hour outside Tokyo. He joined one of his nearest J-League clubs, Kashiwa Reysol, as a youngster and impressed as he climbed the age groups of the top-flight club.

Nakayama made his senior debut in May 2015 in an Asian Champions League game against Vietnamese side Binh Duong, starting the game whilst still a teenager. It wasn’t long before he established himself in the side, as he played 32 senior games in the 2015/16 season – and another 38 in 2016/17.

Yuta’s impressive performances earned him the title of the J-League’s Best Young Player in 2017. In what was a big year, he also started all four games for Japan’s Under-20 side in the FIFA U20 World Cup!

After another two seasons with the Club – in which they once again qualified for the Asian Champions League – he decided a move to Europe was the next step forward in his career. He departed Kashiwa Reysol having made 99 senior appearances, scoring six goals.

The summer of 2019 was a busy one for Yuta. After close to 50 appearances for Japan at youth level, he made his senior debut in a game against Chile.

Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle was the next destination in Yuta’s career. After joining the Club in the summer of 2019, he had established himself in the team by October. The side maintained it’s top flight status in the first two campaigns, and Nakayama decided to depart for Town this summer having made 84 appearances for the Club, scoring six times.

He now has 16 senior caps for Japan, seven of which came in 2022 as he helped his nation qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar!

Yuta had a positive start to the 2022/23 season but was unfortunate to pick up a serious Achilles injury at the end of the second half against Sunderland in November 2022, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Nakayama managed to make 14 Sky Bet Championship appearances for Town and score two goals before his injury.