On July 8th, Kōta Takai left Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale and completed a move to Tottenham Hotspur. The centre-back has signed a five-year contract at the north London club.
The Japan international is said to have obtained a work permit and has been training with his new teammates at Tottenham for a few days.
Campo.dk claim Tottenham weren’t the only European club to have interest in the 20-year-old this summer.
Earlier claims from the Danish media discussed FC Copenhagen’s interest in the defender.
They were successful in signing the Tottenham player’s compatriot, Junnosuke Suzuki, from Shonan Bellmare earlier this month. Copenhagen were also keen on securing Takai’s services but lost the battle to Thomas Frank’s side.
Copenhagen manager Jacob Neestrup was a guest on podcast Vores Liga, where he talked about his side losing the battle to Spurs over signing the defender and Campo.dk have relayed his comments.
“I can also say that we looked at Kota Takai, who is at Tottenham now, was also a player we had a good look at. But we did not succeed in getting him to Copenhagen. But at least they are some talented players,” he said.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Takai will initially be part of Frank’s plans next season or will Tottenham send him out on loan to help him ease him into European football.
