Koki Saito (斉藤 光毅, Saitō Kōki, born 10 August 2001) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Queens Park Rangers on loan from Belgian club Lommel.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Koki Saito[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 August 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team |
Queens Park Rangers (on loam from Lommel) | |||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2013 | Inukura SC | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Yokohama FC | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Yokohama FC | 63 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2021– | Lommel | 29 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | → Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 47 | (10) | |||||||||||
| 2024– | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Japan U16 | 7 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Japan U17 | 8 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U18 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U19 | 5 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Japan U20 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | Japan U21 | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022 | Japan U23 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:13, 19 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14:39, 3 January 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Club career
editAfter impressive performances with the Japan U-17 team, Koki Saito debuted on 21 July 2018 in a league match against FC Gifu.[2] On his debut, Saito even had the chance to share the field with Kazuyoshi Miura, who is 34 years his senior.[3]
In January 2021, he joined Belgian First Division B side Lommel.[4] In summer 2022 he was loaned to Eredivisie side Sparta.[5] The loan was extended for the 2023–24 season.[6]
On 13 August 2024, Saito joined EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers on a season-long loan deal.[7] He made his debut with the club on 17 August, coming on as 67th minute substitute. In the 88th minute of the same match, he assisted Lyndon Dykes to earn 10-man QPR a draw away to Sheffield United.
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Yokohama FC | 2018 | J2 League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | J2 League | 29 | 6 | 2[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 6 | ||
| 2020 | J1 League | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| Total | 63 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 67 | 9 | ||||
| Lommel SK | 2020–21 | Challenger Pro League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Challenger Pro League | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | — | — | 22 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | — | — | 32 | 6 | |||||
| Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 30 | 7 | 2 | 0 | – | — | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 | ||
| 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | — | 1[c] | 0 | 21 | 3 | |||
| Total | 50 | 10 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 53 | 10 | ||||
| Career total | 142 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 152 | 25 | ||
- ^ Appearances in the Emperor's Cup
- ^ Appearances in the J.League Cup
- ^ Appearances in Eredivisie European Play-offs
Honours
editIndividual
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: March 2023,[10]
References
edit- ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
- ^ "横浜FCユースFW斉藤光毅選手 U-18（FIFA U-20ワールドカップ2019）日本代表ポルトガル遠征 「第24回U18リスボン国際トーナメント」 選出のお知らせ | 横浜FCオフィシャルホームページ". yokohamafc.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018.
- ^ "51歳カズが16歳斉藤と２トップ 縦パスで見せ場 – Ｊ２ : 日刊スポーツ".
- ^ "Welkom Koki Saito!" (in Dutch). Lommel S.K. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ "SPARTA HUURT JAPANS JEUGDINTERNATIONAL SAITO" (in Dutch). Sparta Rotterdam. 25 June 2022.
- ^ "WITTE ROOK IN ROTTERDAM-WEST: SAITO NOG EEN SEIZOEN BIJ SPARTA" (in Dutch). Sparta Rotterdam. 5 June 2023.
- ^ "Saito & Dembélé join on loan". www.qpr.co.uk. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
- ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 193 out of 289).
- ^ Koki Saito at Soccerway. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ^ "Sparta and AZ dominate Eredivisie team of the month in march". Eredivisie. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
External links
edit- Koki Saito at j-league.or.jp (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at jleague.jp (archived 24 August 2018) (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at Yokohama FC (archived) (in Japanese)
- Koki Saito at WorldFootball.net
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