Who is Takuro Kaneko, a dazzling dribbler has just joined Dinamo Zagreb from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo?

The Japanese midfielder Takuro Kaneko moved from Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo to Dinamo Zagreb this summer. According to reports in Croatia, the deal is a one-year loan transfer, for which Sapporo has got paid €400,000 along with a buy-out option of €1.3 million. Kaneko joined Dinamo on 25 July, and immediately started the league game against Istra on 30 July, playing for full in 3-0 victory. 

What will the 25-year-old Japanese attacker bring to the Croatian side which have qualified for the Champions League this season? Let’s take a look at what he has to offer.

Having started his professional career at Sapporo, Kaneko seized the opportunity from his rookie year in 2020 and went on to record 12 goals in 102 appearances until the end of the last season. He has scored a team-leading eight goals in 21 appearances in this 2023 season of the J1 League. 

In his fourth year as a professional, the lefty has developed into one of the best attackers in the league, and his greatest weapon is sharp dribbling. In the moves, he measures the distance between defenders and himself, perceives the centre of gravity of the opponents, and breaks through with pace at the right time. His ability to read the game and instantaneous speed make him unstoppable, even when the opponents know he is coming.

Shinji Ono praised him

His elder team-mate called Shinji Ono, an active legendary midfielder who used to play for Feyenoord in early 2000s and won the UEFA Cup in 2002, is one of those who admires this dribbler. The 43 year-old ex-Japan international has given a lot of useful advice to Kaneko in training and after games, which has helped him improve.

The J.League introduced Kaneko’s performance and uploaded a video in April this year, entitled “No one can stop the J1’s No.1 dribbler!?” and “Collection of sharp dribbles”.

An interesting aspect of Kaneko’s career is that he is an university-graduated player. Many players in the Japan national team have become professionals after graduating from university, such as Junya Ito of Stade Reims and Hidemasa Morita of Sporting CP. Kaneko is no different, having represented Japan at the Universiade Games in Naples in 2019 while still at university. He was a key player along with Ayase Ueda who moved to Feyenoord Rotterdam this summer, Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Celtic’s Reo Hatate, and scored three goals to help Japan win the gold medal. Incidentally, he spent a whole of his third year in the third division of the University league system, because Nihon University were relegated from the upper league.

With a short-term goal of making into the national team, Kaneko urgently needed to step up to an European club in order to catch up with and overtake his university peers, who were ahead of him due to the World Cup success.

Loved by Sapporo fans for his mesmerising performances, Kaneko made a regretful comment on his move at the club’s official website.

“I have decided to move to Dinamo Zagreb on a temporary basis. First of all, I am sorry for transferring in the middle of the season. But when I received this offer, I honestly wanted to take on the challenge. Considering my age, I think it’s about my last chance. I made this decision because I can only live once in my football life and don’t want to regret it. Thank you very much for your passionate support at all times over the past four and a half years, including the time when I was on special assignment (from the university).

“I really wanted to deliver more victories to the supporters who always gave us passionate support, no matter how far away from home, on rainy or windy days, or how many defeats we had. But I will never forget that I was able to fight with the best supporters. Also, thanks to Mikami-san (general manager of the club, Hirokatsu Mikami), everyone involved with the club, Mischa-san (coach Mihailo Petrovic), staff, teammates, partners, supporters and everyone else involved with Consadole, I have grown to this point. I think the real challenge starts here. I will do my best to show everyone how I can play better. And I will do my best so that you can proudly say that Takuro Kaneko was brought up in Hokkaido! Thank you very much for your continuous support for four and a half years!”

Dinamo Zagreb already had a Japanese link. Still active 56 year-old Kazuyoshi Miura used to play there in 1999. Also, ex-Japan international defender Masahiko Inoha played for its rival, Haiduk Split in the 2011-12 season. However, neither of them were highly rated in the league, so it is hoped that Kaneko will be able to show his abilities in order to win a full transfer to the club after the loan period.