#22Midfield - Central Midfield

Ao Tanaka

田中碧

JapanAge27Central Midfield

Market Value€13.00m

Leeds United· Premier League

Played

Goals

Assists

Yellow Cards

Red Cards

14g

90min blocks

Position

Midfield - Central Midfield

Main Position

Central Midfield

Date of Birth

1998-09-10(27)

Height

1,80

Preferred Foot

right

Place of Birth

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Citizenship

Japan

Contract & Agent

Joined

2024-08-30

Contract Until

2028-06-30

Agent

CAA Base Ltd ✓

Market Value

€13.00m

Last Updated

2026-06-03

Honours

Japanese champion ×3English 2nd tier championJapanese cup winnerJapanese league cup winnerJapanese Super Cup winner ×2

Career Achievements

Tanaka has won three Japanese league titles, one English second-tier championship, one Japanese cup, one Japanese league cup, and two Japanese Super Cups. He has also been recognized for his individual performances, though specific awards are not listed.

Biography

Ao Tanaka is a Japanese central midfielder who began his professional career at Kawasaki Frontale, where he won multiple domestic titles. He moved to Leeds United in 2021 and has since become a key player for the club. Tanaka has also represented Japan at the international level, showcasing his versatility and technical ability.

Playing Style

Tanaka is a technically gifted midfielder known for his excellent passing range and vision, allowing him to dictate the tempo of the game. He is also a hardworking player who contributes defensively, though his physicality can sometimes be a weakness against stronger opponents. His tactical intelligence and ability to find space make him a valuable asset in both build-up play and attacking transitions.

Market Value History

Season Stats (Premier League)

All seasons (52)

Season	Comp	Apps	G	A	YC	RC	Min
25/26	Premier League	28	2	0	1	0	1318
25/26	International Friendlies	6	0	0	1	0	332
25/26	FA Cup	5	2	0	1	0	381
25/26	EFL Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
24/25	2. Bundesliga	3	0	0	0	0	270
24/25	Championship	43	5	2	8	0	3318
24/25	FA Cup	2	0	0	0	0	46
24/25	DFB-Pokal	1	0	0	1	0	90
23/24	World Cup qualification Asia	9	1	1	0	0	594
23/24	2. Bundesliga	30	7	4	3	0	2257
23/24	Bundesliga Playoffs	2	0	0	0	0	165
23/24	International Friendlies	4	4	0	0	0	256
23/24	DFB-Pokal	4	1	0	1	0	415
22/23	2. Bundesliga	22	1	1	2	0	1752
22/23	International Friendlies	1	0	0	0	0	16
22/23	DFB-Pokal	3	0	2	0	0	300
21/22	2. Bundesliga	29	1	1	3	0	1779
21/22	International Friendlies	6	1	0	0	0	333
21/22	DFB-Pokal	1	0	0	0	0	45
2025	East Asian Football Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0
2023	AFC Asian Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2022	World Cup	3	1	0	0	0	173
2022	East Asian Football Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021	Olympic Games	6	0	1	1	0	539
2021	Emperor's Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021	Japanese Super Cup	1	0	1	0	0	90
2021	J1 League	20	1	4	2	0	1653
2021	AFC Champions League (- 2024)	0	0	0	0	0	0
2020	Emperor's Cup	2	1	0	0	0	180
2020	J. League Cup	5	0	0	1	0	295
2020	J1 League	31	5	1	1	0	2185
2020	AFC U23 Asian Cup	2	0	0	1	1	135
2019	Emperor's Cup	1	0	0	0	0	90
2019	Japanese Super Cup	1	0	0	0	0	11
2019	J. League Cup	1	0	0	0	0	120
2019	J1 League	24	1	3	0	0	1968
2019	East Asian Football Championship	2	0	0	0	0	157
2019	AFC Champions League (- 2024)	4	1	0	0	0	315
2018	Emperor's Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2018	Japanese Super Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2018	J. League Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2018	J1 League	4	1	0	0	0	164
2018	AFC Champions League (- 2024)	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017	Emperor's Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017	J. League Cup	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017	J1 League	0	0	0	0	0	0
2017	AFC Champions League (- 2024)	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014	AFC U17 Asian Cup	3	0	1	0	0	162
20/21	International Friendlies	1	0	0	0	0	90
19/20	World Cup qualification Asia	7	1	0	0	0	548
19/20	International Friendlies	1	2	1	0	0	90
18/19	International Friendlies	4	0	0	0	0	360

National Team Matches (79)

Date	Opponent	H/A	Result	Competition	Min	G	A	YC
2026-05-31	Iceland	🏠	1:0	International Friendlies	73	0	0	0
2026-03-31	Japan	✈	0:1	International Friendlies	19	0	0	0
2026-03-28	Japan	✈	0:1	International Friendlies	78	0	0	0
2025-11-18	Bolivia	🏠	3:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2025-11-14	Ghana	🏠	2:0	International Friendlies	68	0	0	0
2025-10-14	Brazil	🏠	3:2	International Friendlies	16	0	0	0
2025-10-10	Paraguay	🏠	2:2	International Friendlies	78	0	0	1
2025-09-09	Japan	✈	2:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2025-09-07	Japan	✈	0:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2025-07-15	Japan	✈	0:1	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2025-07-12	Japan	-	0:0	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2025-07-08	Japan	-	1:1	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2025-06-10	Indonesia	🏠	6:0	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2025-06-05	Japan	✈	1:0	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2025-03-25	Saudi Arabia	🏠	0:0	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2025-03-20	Bahrain	🏠	2:0	World Cup qualification Asia	45	0	0	0
2024-11-19	Japan	✈	1:3	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2024-11-15	Japan	✈	0:4	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2024-10-15	Australia	🏠	1:1	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2024-10-10	Japan	✈	0:2	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2024-09-10	Japan	✈	0:5	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2024-09-05	China	🏠	7:0	World Cup qualification Asia	19	0	0	0
2024-06-11	Syria	🏠	5:0	World Cup qualification Asia	73	0	0	0
2024-06-06	Japan	✈	0:5	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2024-03-26	Japan	✈	0:3	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2024-03-21	North Korea	🏠	1:0	World Cup qualification Asia	90	1	0	0
2024-02-03	Japan	✈	2:1	AFC Asian Cup	-	0	0	0
2024-01-31	Japan	✈	1:3	AFC Asian Cup	-	0	0	0
2024-01-24	Japan	✈	1:3	AFC Asian Cup	-	0	0	0
2024-01-19	Japan	✈	2:1	AFC Asian Cup	-	0	0	0
2024-01-14	Japan	✈	2:4	AFC Asian Cup	-	0	0	0
2024-01-01	Thailand	🏠	5:0	International Friendlies	78	1	0	0
2023-11-21	Japan	✈	0:5	World Cup qualification Asia	7	0	0	0
2023-11-16	Myanmar	🏠	5:0	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	1	0
2023-10-17	Tunisia	🏠	2:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2023-10-13	Canada	🏠	4:1	International Friendlies	72	2	0	0
2023-09-12	Japan	✈	2:4	International Friendlies	90	0	0	0
2023-09-09	Japan	✈	1:4	International Friendlies	16	1	0	0
2023-06-20	Peru	🏠	4:1	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2023-06-15	El Salvador	🏠	6:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2023-03-28	Colombia	🏠	1:2	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2023-03-24	Uruguay	🏠	1:1	International Friendlies	16	0	0	0
2022-12-05	Japan	✈	4:2	World Cup	15	0	0	0
2022-12-01	Japan	✈	1:2	World Cup	87	1	0	0
2022-11-27	Japan	✈	1:0	World Cup	-	0	0	0
2022-11-23	Japan	✈	1:2	World Cup	71	0	0	0
2022-11-17	Japan	✈	2:1	International Friendlies	67	0	0	0
2022-09-27	Japan	✈	0:0	International Friendlies	90	0	0	0
2022-09-23	Japan	✈	0:2	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2022-07-27	South Korea	🏠	3:0	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2022-07-24	China	🏠	0:0	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2022-07-19	Hong Kong	🏠	6:0	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0
2022-06-14	Tunisia	🏠	0:3	International Friendlies	45	0	0	0
2022-06-10	Ghana	🏠	4:1	International Friendlies	21	0	0	0
2022-06-06	Brazil	🏠	0:1	International Friendlies	81	0	0	0
2022-06-02	Paraguay	🏠	4:1	International Friendlies	29	1	0	0
2022-03-29	Vietnam	🏠	1:1	World Cup qualification Asia	29	0	0	0
2022-03-24	Japan	✈	0:2	World Cup qualification Asia	84	0	0	0
2022-02-01	Saudi Arabia	🏠	2:0	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2022-01-27	China	🏠	2:0	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2021-11-16	Japan	✈	0:1	World Cup qualification Asia	90	0	0	0
2021-11-11	Japan	✈	0:1	World Cup qualification Asia	75	0	0	0
2021-10-12	Australia	🏠	2:1	World Cup qualification Asia	90	1	0	0
2021-10-07	Japan	✈	1:0	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-09-07	Japan	✈	0:1	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-09-02	Oman	🏠	0:1	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-06-15	Kyrgyzstan	🏠	5:1	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-06-11	Serbia	🏠	1:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2021-06-07	Tajikistan	🏠	4:1	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-05-28	Myanmar	🏠	10:0	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-03-30	Mongolia	🏠	14:0	World Cup qualification Asia	-	0	0	0
2021-03-25	South Korea	🏠	3:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2020-11-17	Japan	✈	2:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2020-11-13	Japan	✈	0:1	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2020-10-13	Japan	✈	0:1	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2020-10-09	Japan	✈	0:0	International Friendlies	-	0	0	0
2019-12-18	Japan	✈	1:0	East Asian Football Championship	90	0	0	0
2019-12-14	Japan	✈	0:5	East Asian Football Championship	67	0	0	0
2019-12-10	Japan	✈	1:2	East Asian Football Championship	-	0	0	0