Koki Saito (斉藤 光毅, Saitō Kōki, born 10 August 2001) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club Sparta Rotterdam, on loan from Belgian club Lommel.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Koki Saito[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 August 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Sparta Rotterdam (on loan from Lommel) | |||||||||||||
| Number | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2013 | Inukura SC | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Yokohama FC | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Yokohama FC | 63 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2021– | Lommel | 29 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | → Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 50 | (10) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Japan U16 | 7 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Japan U17 | 8 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U18 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U19 | 5 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Japan U20 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | Japan U21 | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022 | Japan U23 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:13, 19 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:39, 3 January 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Club career
After impressive performances with the Japan U-17 team, Koki Saito debuted on 21 July 2018 in a league match against FC Gifu.[2] On his debut, Saito even had the chance to share the field with Kazuyoshi Miura, who is 34 years his senior.[3]
In January 2021, he joined Belgian First Division B side Lommel.[4] In summer 2022 he was loaned to Eredivisie side Sparta.[5] The loan was extended for the 2023–24 season.[6]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Yokohama FC | 2018 | J2 League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | J2 League | 29 | 6 | 2[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 6 | ||
| 2020 | J1 League | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| Total | 63 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 67 | 9 | ||||
| Lommel SK | 2020–21 | Challenger Pro League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Challenger Pro League | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | — | — | 22 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | — | — | 32 | 6 | |||||
| Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 30 | 7 | 2 | 0 | – | — | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 | ||
| 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | — | 1[c] | 0 | 21 | 3 | |||
| Total | 50 | 10 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 53 | 10 | ||||
| Career total | 142 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 152 | 25 | ||
Honours
Individual
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: March 2023,[9]
References
External links
- Koki Saito at j-league.or.jp (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at jleague.jp (archived 24 August 2018) (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at Yokohama FC (archived) (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at WorldFootball.net