Shimpei Fukuoka

Shimpei Fukuoka has never played for another club. He joined Kyoto Sanga's youth academy in 2013, came up through the ranks and made his professional debut for the first team on 2 June 2018, having started out at YF Naratesoro and then Athpegas Ikoma FC. In August 2024 that continuity was recognised when he was named captain, taking over the armband from Sota Kawasaki after his departure for Europe.

He was part of the Kyoto Sanga side that finished as runners-up in the 2021 J2 League, a result that returned the club to the J1 League after eleven years away, and he has gone on to make more than 200 appearances for the team.

Fukuoka's captaincy experience goes back further than his Kyoto Sanga armband. As a teenager he led Japan's U-17 side at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India, where the team reached the Round of 16, and he also featured for Japan at the 2017 AFC U-16 Championship. A central midfielder by trade, he has yet to add a major senior trophy or an individual award such as Best XI to his record, with Kyoto Sanga's own J2 League and Emperor's Cup successes all having come before he broke into the first team.