[Official] Ten Japanese players to feature in EPL; Japan national team starting goalkeeper Suzuki joins Aston Villa

*This content was translated by AI.

Another Japanese player is set to compete in this season's English professional football Premier League (EPL). This time it is Japan national team starting goalkeeper Suzuki Zayon (24). If no other Japanese players leave the transfer market during the remaining transfer window, there will be as many as ten Japanese players competing on the EPL stage this season.

Aston Villa of the EPL officially announced a five-year contract with Suzuki via its official website on the 19th (Korean time). While the exact transfer fee has not been disclosed, local reports indicate it could be up to 35 million euros (approximately 56.7 billion won). He is moving from Italy's Serie A club Parma to join the EPL.

A mixed-race player born to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother, Suzuki was born in New Jersey, USA, but attended elementary, middle, and high school all in Japan. He has represented Japan exclusively from the U15 youth national team through to the A national team. Recently, he also served as the starting goalkeeper for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America. Suzuki began his professional career at Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds before moving to Sint-Truiden (Belgium) and Parma, and now joins Aston Villa.

Suzuki's original likely destination was Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the former club of Lee Kang-in (Atletico Madrid) and a two-time consecutive UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner. Negotiations had reached the stage just before his medical test, but PSG terminated talks after Suzuki's agent demanded an exorbitant transfer fee of 5 million euros (approximately 8.1 billion won), insisted on him being a first-choice player from the second season onward, and restricted UCL participation to clubs that qualified for the tournament in their second season. Instead, Aston Villa became his new destination.

With Suzuki's move to Aston Villa, the number of Japanese players competing on the EPL stage this season has risen to ten. Alongside Kaoru Mitoma at Brighton & Hove Albion, Watari Endo (Liverpool), Daichi Kamada, and Takehiro Tomiyasu (Crystal Palace) are among the Japanese players featuring in the EPL this season.

Additionally, Kota Takai (Tottenham), Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Toshihiro Sakamoto (Coventry), Hidemasa Morita (Hull City), and Daizen Maeda (Ipswich Town) are also set to begin their EPL seasons. With Suzuki's arrival, the number of Japanese players in the Premier League has now reached double digits. In contrast, no Korean players have yet joined the EPL this season.

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*This content was translated by AI.