Tottenham Hotspur‘s Kōta Takai will have to wait to make his debut for Sint-Truidense VV.
That’s according to Saturday’s edition of Het Belang van Limburg, who covers the Japan international’s difficult situation in Belgium.
Fresh loan move for Tottenham man
The centre-back joined the Premier League side for around €5m from Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale in July.
Later that month, he suffered an ankle injury, forcing him to spend five months on the sidelines.
Tottenham Hotspur sent him on loan to Borussia Mönchengladbach in January before sanctioning another temporary move to the Jupiler Pro League side on September 1st.
A day later, Sport Witness covered a report from Belgium explaining that Kōta Takai isn’t eligible to play immediately. That didn’t stop Sint-Truidense VV manager Frédéric De Meyer from praising him.
He said: “Kōta does indeed remind me a bit of Shogo Taniguchi, but much younger. I think that in the long run he could even become Shogo’s successor in the Japanese national team.”
Tottenham owned player’s debut delayed
The Belgian club will face RAAL La Louvière later today and Kōta Takai is still not eligible to feature in this fixture.
In fact, the newspaper states the Spurs owned player isn’t even eligible to train with his new club. That’s mainly because the paperwork is still not in order.
HBVL states: ‘As a non-EU player who was playing in a non-EU league, it’s not easy these days to get all the paperwork sorted out in just a few days.’
Since moving to Europe, the 22-year-old played eight matches, and all were with Borussia Mönchengladbach.
It will take some time for the Tottenham Hotspur man to receive the green light to train.
There’s no indication when the defender can make his debut for Sint-Truidense VV.
They have signed him on a season-long loan, without a purchase option. This indicates the north London club have long-term plans for Takai, who has a contract with them until 2030.
