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Keito Nakamura
中村敬斗
	Nakamura playing for LASK in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Keito Nakamura
Date of birth	28 July 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth	Abiko, Chiba, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Left winger, forward
Team information
Current team	Reims
Number	17
Youth career
	Kashiwa Eagles TOR'82
	Kashiwa Reysol
	Konoyama SSS
2012–2017	Mitsubishi Yowa
Senior career*
Years	Team
2018–2021	Gamba Osaka
2018–2019	Gamba Osaka U23
2019–2020	→ Twente (loan)
2020-2021	→ Sint-Truiden (loan)
2021	→ Juniors OÖ (loan)
2021–2023	LASK
2023–	Reims
International career‡
2017	Japan U17
2018	Japan U21
2019	Japan U20
2023–	Japan
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 December 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 October 2024

Keito Nakamura (中村敬斗, Nakamura Keito, born 28 July 2000) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Reims and the Japan national team. He plays either as a left winger or a forward.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Club career

Gamba Osaka

Nakamura joined Gamba Osaka from Kantō Soccer League side Mitsubishi Yowa ahead of the 2018 J1 League season.^[5] He made his senior debut at the age of 17 on 24 February 2018 in a 3–2 home defeat by Nagoya Grampus in which replaced Hwang Ui-jo in the 69th minute and 10 minutes later crossed for Shun Nagasawa to head home and make the score 2–2.^[6]^[7]

In total he played 17 J1 League games during his debut campaign and netted 1 goal, the winner in a 2–1 win over V-Varen Nagasaki on 24 November.^[8] He also scored once in 7 J.League Cup games and made one substitute appearance in the Emperor's Cup, a shock home defeat to Kwansei Gakuin University.^[3]

Nakamura spent a large part of the second half of the season with Gamba's Under-23 side in J3 League where he netted 4 times in 15 appearances with the goals coming against FC Tokyo U-23, Thespakusatsu Gunma and Azul Claro Numazu.^[3]

FC Juniors 00

In February 2021, Nakamura has loaned to 2. Liga (Austria) club FC Juniors OÖ.^[9]

LASK

On 11 August 2021, he signed a three-year contract with Austrian club LASK.^[10]

Reims

On 10 August 2023, it was announced that he would permanently transfer to Stade Reims of France's Ligue 1.^[11] On 12 August, he made his Ligue 1 debut in the opening game against Olympique de Marseille, coming on as a substitute in the 15th minute of the second half. On 26 September, he scored his first goal in Ligue 1 in Round 6 against Lille OSC.

International career

Nakamura has represented Japan at Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17 level playing in both the AFC Under-16 Championship in 2016, and the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in which he netted 4 times in 4 games before Japan were eliminated by England at the last-16 stage.^[2]^[3]

In March 2023, he was called up by Hajime Moriyasu for the senior national team for friendlies against Uruguay and Colombia. He made his debut against Uruguay on 24 March 2023, coming off the bench in the 89th minute. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.^[12] On 15 June, he came on as a substitute from the start of the second half against El Salvador and scored his first goal for the national team.^[13] On 12 September, he made his first start for the national team against Turkey and scored two goals.^[14]

In January 2024, he was named for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup final squads alongside Reims teammate, Junya Itō.^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 9 January 2025^[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Gamba Osaka	2018	J1 League	17	1	1	0	7	1	—		25	2
	2019	J1 League	7	0	1	3	5	3	—		13	6
	Total		24	1	2	3	12	4	—		38	8
Twente (loan)	2019–20	Eredivisie	17	4	1	2	—		—		18	6
Sint-Truiden (loan)	2020–21	Belgian Pro League	5	1	0	0	—		—		5	1
Juniors OÖ (loan)	2020–21	Austrian 2. Liga	9	2	0	0	—		—		9	2
	2021–22	Austrian 2. Liga	5	3	0	0	—		—		5	3
	Total		14	5	0	0	—		—		14	5
LASK	2021–22	Austrian Bundesliga	22	6	3	0	—		7^[a]	3	32	9
	2022–23	Austrian Bundesliga	31	14	5	3	—		—		36	17
	2023–24	Austrian Bundesliga	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		54	20	8	3	—		7	3	69	26
Reims	2023–24	Ligue 1	25	4	0	0	—		—		25	4
Reims	2024–25	Ligue 1	17	7	1	0	—		—		18	7
Career total			156	42	12	8	12	4	7	3	187	57

^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 15 October 2024^[16]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2023	4	4
Japan	2024	9	4
Total		13	8

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nakamura goal.^[16]

List of international goals scored by Keito Nakamura
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 June 2023	Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan	El Salvador	5–0	6–0	2023 Kirin Challenge Cup
2	12 September 2023	Cegeka Arena, Genk, Belgium	Turkey	2–0	4–2
3	12 September 2023	Cegeka Arena, Genk, Belgium	Turkey	3–0	4–2
4	13 October 2023	Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata, Japan	Canada	3–0	4–1	Friendly
5	1 January 2024	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Thailand	2–0	5–0	Friendly
6	14 January 2024	Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Vietnam	3–2	4–2	2023 AFC Asian Cup
7	6 June 2024	Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar	Myanmar	1–0	5–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	6 June 2024	Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar	Myanmar	5–0	5–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Individual

Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards: Best XI (2024)^[17]

References

^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Keito Nakamura Gamba Osaka Player Profile". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "K. Nakamura". Soccerway. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
^ "Keito Nakamura J.League Player Profile". J.League English Website. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
^ "Gamba Osaka News – Keito Nakamura arrival". Gamba Osaka (in Japanese). 26 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
^ "Schedule & Results Gamba Osaka vs Nagoya Grampus". J.League English Website. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
^ "Gamba Osaka vs Nagoya Grampus 2-3". Soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
^ "Schedule & Results Gamba Osaka vs V-Varen Nagasaki". J.League English Website. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
^ "FC JUNIORS OÖ LEIHT JAPANER NAKAMURA". FC Juniors OÖ (in German). 8 February 2021. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
^ "LASK SIGN LEFT WINGER KEITO NAKAMURA". LASK. 11 August 2021.
^ "Keito Nakamura, l'aile gauche caviar". Stade de Reims. 10 August 2023. Archived from the original on 12 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
^ Michael Church (24 March 2023). "Substitute Nishimura strikes to earn Japan draw against Uruguay". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
^ "vs El Salvador National Team". JFA. 15 June 2023. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
^ "vs Türkiye National Team". JFA. 12 September 2023. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
^ "AFC Asian Cup 2023: Skuad Jepang Rasa Eropa, Inilah Daftar 26 Nama Pemain yang Tercatat!" [AFC Asian Cup 2023: Japanese Squad with European Flavor, Here's the List of 26 Listed Players!]. Kompasiana (in Indonesian). 2 January 2024. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b Keito Nakamura at National-Football-Teams.com
^ "JPFA 日本プロサッカー選手会". ニュース：JPFA 日本プロサッカー選手会 (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 January 2025.