Talent calendar
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The 2023 U17 World Cup in Indonesia is remembered by many fans in Germany because of the title won by coach Christian Wück’s DFB team. Aside from the German teenagers around Finn Jeltsch, Paris Brunner and Max Moerstedt, a Japanese talent, Rento Takaoka, also attracted attention.
The now 17-year-old center forward scored all four goals for his team in the games against Poland (1:0), Argentina (1:3) and Senegal (2:0) in the group phase. The Spanish selection was too strong in the round of 16, but the tournament was still a complete success for Takaoka. Scouts from all over the world had seen the achievements of the youngster, who plays for Nissho Gakuen High School back home. So it was only a matter of time before the first offers came – six months later the contract was signed in Europe.
Southampton FC secured the services of the striker last summer, who will move to England in March next year. First he should finish school in Japan. A trial training session in April of this year finally convinced the Saints to sign Takaoka and continue a tradition of recent years. The attacker becomes the sixth Japanese player at the club since 2012, after Tadanari Lee, Maya Yoshida, Takumi Minamino, Kuryu Matsuki and Yukinari Sugawara.
Takaoka impresses with his speed and fighting spirit
At 1.65 meters, Takaoka is an extremely short striker. “He has strength, speed and fighting spirit,” Japan U17 coach Yoshiro Moriyama told FIFA.com last year. “He is a fighter and has the energy to make things happen. He has this incredible ability to score goals in the penalty area, he is always there.”
Takaoka didn’t just show these skills at the U17 World Cup. He had already proven in the important 3-1 win against Australia in qualifying that he stays calm in front of the goal. When the score was 2-1 – Bayern’s new signing Nestory Irankunda had just scored – Takaoka was sent deep and stood alone in front of keeper Anthony Pavlesic, also under contract in Munich. Instead of taking the shot straight away, he let the goalkeeper and defender look into space and slotted in for the winning goal.
This action describes well what Takaoka strives for on the field. “I want to be a destroyer,” he said at his introduction in Southampton. “I want to destroy my opponents in every way: with my speed, my hard work and the precision of my finishing.” And that results in great ambitions. “My personal goal is to win the World Cup. I want to score a lot of goals for Southampton and become a player who can fulfill the children’s dreams in the future.”
Every day from December 1st to 24th, Transfermarkt will present a talent from the 2007 or 2008 vintage from a different country. Sponsors, data scouts and users act as experts and report interesting facts about 24 young players in our talent calendar who you should keep a close eye on in the future. For example with the TM-Watchlist.
