 Itakura withVegalta Sendai in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kō Itakura[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1997-01-27)27 January 1997 (age 28)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Aoba-ku,Yokohama,Kanagawa, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back,defensive midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ajax | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| 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) |
| 2022–2025 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 75 | (6) |
| 2025– | Ajax | 7 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013 | Japan U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Japan U20 | 8 | (1) |
| 2018–2021 | Japan U23 | 24 | (6) |
| 2019– | Japan | 39 | (2) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 November 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||
Kō Itakura (板倉 滉,Itakura Kō; born 27 January 1997) is a Japanese professionalfootballer who plays ascentre-back ordefensive midfielder forEredivisie clubAjax and theJapan national team.[3]
In January 2019, Itakura joinedPremier League clubManchester City and was immediately loaned toEredivisie clubGroningen, 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 with2. Bundesliga clubSchalke 04 with an option to make the move permanent for £5 million.[6] At the end of the season, he was promoted to theBundesliga with Schalke, but the club did not activate the option due to financial reasons.[7] Instead, he signed a four-year deal with fellow Bundesliga clubBorussia Mönchengladbach.
On August 19 2023, he scored his first goal in the Bundesliga againstAugsburg, and on September 2, he scored a goal againstBayern 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]
On August 7, 2025, it was announced that Itakura will return to theEredivisie and signed a contract withAjax, thus becoming the first Japanese player to represent the club.[10][11]
Itakura was selected for the seniorJapan national football team for2019 Copa América and made his debut on 20 June 2019 in the game against Uruguay, as a starter.[12][better source needed]
On March 29, 2021, he scored two goals against theArgentina national under-24 football team, and was also selected to represent Japan at theTokyo Olympics, finishing in 4th place.[13]
In November 2022, he was selected for the2022 FIFA World Cup Japan National team for the first time.[14] 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 goalagainst Germany. He was also named in the first group stage best eleven by SpanishMarca and ItalianSky Sport.[15] 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".[16]
On March 28, 2023, he served as captain for the first time in the second match of the second term ofMoriyasuJapan againstColombia.[17]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental[c] | Other[d] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2015 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2016 | J1 League | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | J1 League | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
| Vegalta Sendai (loan) | 2018 | J1 League | 24 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 3 | ||
| Manchester City | 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| Groningen (loan) | 2018–19 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 23 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 36 | 1 | |||
| Total | 56 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 59 | 1 | ||||
| Schalke 04 (loan) | 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 32 | 4 | |||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 25 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 20 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 22 | 3 | ||||
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 32 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 34 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 76 | 7 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 81 | 8 | |||||
| Ajax | 2025–26 | Eredivisie | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 3[e] | 0 | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 202 | 17 | 18 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 237 | 19 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2019 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 2 | |
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.[22]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 May 2021 | Fukuda Denshi Arena, Chiba, Japan |  Myanmar | 10–0 | 10–0 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 19 November 2024 | Xiamen Egret Stadium, Xiamen, China |  China | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Kawasaki Frontale
Vegalta Sendai
Schalke 04
Individual
Japan squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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