Mitsuki Saito (齊藤 未月, Saitō Mitsuki, born 10 January 1999) is a Japanese footballer[2] who plays as a midfielder for Vissel Kobe in the J1 League. He played as a defensive midfielder early in his career.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mitsuki Saito[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 January 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Vissel Kobe | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Shonan Bellmare | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2022 | Shonan Bellmare | 112 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | → Rubin Kazan (loan) | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | → Gamba Osaka (loan) | 26 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | → Vissel Kobe (loan) | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Vissel Kobe | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Japan U17 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Japan U18 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U19 | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Japan U20 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | Japan U23 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 January 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 January 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career
Mitsuki Saito was promoted to top team from youth team of J1 League club Shonan Bellmare in 2016. He scored his first goal for the club on a 2-1 loss against V-Varen Nagasaki at the group stage of the 2018 J.League Cup.[3]
On 14 December 2020, he joined Russian Premier League club FC Rubin Kazan on a 1.5-year loan with an option to purchase.[4] On 16 February 2021 he was operated on due to an injury to ankle tendons, recovery was expected to last 4 months, he was not able to play for Rubin in the 2020–21 season.[5] Upon his recovery from injury, he made his debut for Rubin on 12 August 2021 in a Europa Conference League qualifier against the Polish club Raków Częstochowa. He substituted Hwang In-beom in the 106th minute in the extra time, as Rubin lost 0–1 and were eliminated from the competition.[6] He made his RPL debut for Rubin on 22 August 2021 in a game against FC Khimki, he substituted Darko Jevtić in the 81st minute.[7] On 31 August 2021, he was removed from Rubin's RPL squad once again.[8]
On 7 January 2022, he joined Gamba Osaka on loan until 31 January 2023.[9]
Career statistics
Updated to 18 February 2019.[10][11]
| Club performance | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | League | Emperor's Cup | J. League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 2015 | Shonan Bellmare | J1 League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | J2 League | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | J1 League | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 28 | 1 | |
| Total | 50 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 66 | 3 | ||
Honours
Vissel Kobe
References
External links
- Mitsuki Saito at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
- Shonan Bellmare (in Japanese)
- Mitsuki Saito at Soccerway
