8 Japanese Players That Have Scored A Premier League Goal (Ranked) | OneFootball

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Japan international Wataru Endo is set to become the 12th player from his country to play Premier League football after Liverpool confirmed the signing of the Stuttgart captain on a £16.2 million deal

With the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho all departing Anfield this summer, Jurgen Klopp's side were in urgent need of reinforcements in midfield. After losing out to Chelsea in their pursuit of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, Endo emerged as something of a surprise target for the Reds.

However, while he might not be as well-known among fans as some of the names mentioned above, Endo has some serious pedigree behind him having been skipper for both club and country.

A reliable and versatile performer, capped 50 times for Japan, he will bring some much-needed experience to a Liverpool dressing room that has lost a number of its leaders over recent months.

Although he is primarily being recruited for his ability in the holding midfield role, Endo also has goals in his game, chipping in with 12 Bundesliga goals since the start of the 2020/21 campaign. Should he find the back of the net for Liverpool in the Premier League, he will become only the ninth player from Japan to score a goal in the English top-flight.

We've taken a look at the eight other Japanese players to have achieved the same feat below. All stats have been listed as per the official Premier League website to ensure consistency.

8 Hidetoshi Nakata - 1 Premier League goal

Nakata spent just a single season in the Premier League when he played for Bolton Wanderers - on loan from Fiorentina - during the 2005/06 campaign. He may have only played 21 top-flight games for the club, but he proved a valuable asset to Sam Allardyce's side as they went on to secure a top-eight finish and qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup.

His time with the Trotters marked Nakata's final stint as a professional player at club level, as he would hang up his boots after Japan were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup that summer.

Nakata's sole Premier League goal came courtesy of a free-kick driven low into the bottom corner during Bolton's 2-0 victory over West Brom in October 2005.

7 Yoshinori Muto - 1 Premier League goal

Newcastle would have been hoping for a far better return in terms of goals when they signed winger Muto from Mainz for £9.5m in October 2018. After all, he had hit 20 Bundesliga goals across his three seasons in Germany.

Unfortunately for Muto (and the Magpies), it just didn't happen for him at St. James' Park. He only found the back of the net once for Newcastle in the Premier League - and even that came during a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Given his form, it was little surprise when the player was loaned out to Eibar for the 2020/21 season. He didn't set the world on fire in Spain either, scoring just one La Liga goal in 26 appearances.

Muto left Newcastle permanently the following summer, moving back to Japan with Vissel Kobe, where he still plays his football today.

6 Junichi Inamoto - 4 Premier League goals

Inamoto's loan switch from Gamba Osaka to Arsenal in 2001 drew plenty of attention, but it was for London rivals Fulham that the talented midfielder would ultimately make his mark in the Premier League.

The player never made a top-flight appearance for Arsene Wenger's Gunners, but became a cult hero when he moved to Craven Cottage.

Inamoto notched four Premier League goals in 41 appearances for Fulham - and when he found the back of the net, it was usually in memorable fashion as the likes of Man United, Tottenham and Everton found out to their cost. He would depart the club for West Brom during the 2004/05 season - where he could not add to his tally of top-flight goals.

5 Maya Yoshida - 6 Premier League goals

The £3m fee that Southampton paid VVV-Venlo for Yoshida's services in the summer of 2012 proved to be an absolute steal. The towering centre-back went on to make 154 Premier League appearances for the Saints and featured in one of the club's most successful periods in recent memory.

With Yoshida at the back, Southampton made it to the 2017 League Cup final and competed in the Europa League. He also scored half a dozen Premier League goals for the club.

His time in England came to an end when he joined Sampdoria in January 2020. Now 34, Yoshida recently penned a deal with MLS outfit LA Galaxy.

4 Shinji Kagawa - 6 Premier League goals

He may be the first of three Premier League winners to feature on this list, but it's fair to say that Kagawa failed to live up to Man United's expectations when they forked out £12m to convince Borussia Dortmund to part with him in 2012.

The talented playmaker was among the last signings made by Sir Alex Ferguson before he left the 'Theatre of Dreams' and he struggled for regular first-team football under his replacement, David Moyes.

Per the Manchester Evening News, Ferguson even apologised to Kagawa after his retirement for leaving within a year of the player joining the club. While the legendary Scotsman may have wished he'd have had more time to work with Kagawa, injuries saw the midfielder make only 20 Premier League appearances during his debut season in any case.

Kagawa did make up for his relative lack of availability by scoring six top-flight goals during that campaign. Three of those goals came in a single game when Kagawa bagged a treble against Norwich to make history as the first Asian player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.

He also become the first Japanese player to win the Premier League as United won the title in 2012/13. However, Kagawa failed to get on the scoresheet again for United following the end of that season. He ended a three-year-stint at Old Trafford by returning to Dortmund in 2015.

3 Takumi Minamino - 6 Premier League goals

Minamino became the first Japanese player in history to represent Liverpool when he arrived at Anfield in a £7.25m switch from RB Salzburg in January 2020. Within six months of touching down on Merseyside, he was a Premier League winner as Klopp's men ended their 30-year wait to raise English football's top prize.

However, it would take the midfielder almost a full year to score his first league goal for the Reds. Minamino finally opened his Premier League account when he netted against Crystal Palace in December 2020.

Less than two months later, the player found himself out on loan to Southampton, where he scored two goals in 10 Premier League appearances.

A return to Liverpool saw him notch a further three goals during the 2021/22 campaign. He joined Monaco on a permanent deal in June 2022, ending his career at Anfield with just four top-flight goals.

2 Kaoru Mitoma - 7 Premier League goals

The only player featured here who currently plays in the Premier League, highly-rated Brighton winger Mitoma is likely to surge up this list in the near future - so long as he stays in England. His seven top-flight goals for Brighton in 2022/23 marked a top-flight record for a Japanese player in a single season and it would be tough to bet against the player breaking his own record in 2023/24.

Now one of the Premier League's brightest talents, it was only eight years ago that Mitoma chose to pursue a university degree over a career in professional football, fearing that he wasn't ready to succeed in the game. He need not have worried.

1 Shinji Okazaki - 14 Premier League goals

Okazaki leads the way when it comes to Premier League goals scored by Japanese players. The forward joined Leicester City from Mainz for a fee of £7m in 2015 and went on to play a role in one of the greatest sporting upsets in history as the Foxes defied their underdog status to win the title in his first season at the King Power Stadium.

Jamie Vardy may have taken most of the headlines with his 24 league goals during the campaign, but Okazaki's willingness to work tirelessly for the team was a key factor in Leicester's shock success.

Although he only scored five times in the Premier League during 2015/16, Okazaki is fondly remembered by fans of the east Midlands club for his commitment to the cause.

Okazaki spent a further three seasons with Leicester, notching a further nine Premier League goals overall. However, after failing to score at all during the 2018/19 campaign, he was released by the club. He has not played another match in England since.

A spell with Malaga lasted just 34 days, before a switch to Huesca saw him score 13 goals in 65 appearances across two seasons in Spain. Okazaki currently plays for Sint-Truiden in the Belgian Pro League, where he bagged one goal in 32 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign.