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A closer look at Eintracht winter signing Keita Kosugi, taking in his playing style, career path and assessments from the Eagles’ officials.

In August, it was quite literally next to the pitch, rather than on it, that Keita Kosugi caught the eye by helping stewards clear away rubbish in a match in Sweden. The 19-year-old Japanese said afterwards that it was his way of showing respect to the opposition. 

That will no doubt be music to the ears of those involved in the Frankfurt Clean-up Day, while fans of neat and tidy football have also enjoyed the defender’s performances in the past, as his strengths extend well beyond his defensive work.

Style of play

His raw statistics, with five goals and seven assists from 62 competitive outings for Djurgårdens IF, speak for themselves. Eintracht’s management were also glowing in their assessment of the 1.72-metre defender. 

“In Keita, we’re bringing in someone who can play on the left of a three or a five-man backline, as well as in a back four,” said board member for sport Markus Krösche recently in the ‘Eintracht vom Main’ vodcast. “He has a lot of what we need to play our game.”

The day his signing was confirmed, Timmo Hardung praised his “close control and work rate in particular,” as “qualities that we can really use in our style of play”.Perfect timing 

Speaking to EintrachtTV, the sporting director also pointed out another factor in his favour: as the regular season in Sweden runs by the calendar year, Kosugi is already at peak fitness. As such, Hardung is hoping that the newcomer “will demonstrate his qualities in our preparations for the second half of the season”.

From Hiratsuka to Stockholm

Kosugi first learned and developed those qualities at Shonan Bellmare before leaving the port city of Hiratsuka shortly after his 18th birthday in March 2024 for the island of Djurgården in Stockholm. 

Upon his arrival, Samuel Dahl was first choice in his position but the youngster remained patient and had nothing but praise for his rival, saying: “I’m learning a lot from him”. When Dahl joined AS Roma in summer 2024, Kosugi seized his chance in the Fotbollsallsvenskan.

Shared history against Chelsea

Djurgården caught the eye in the UEFA Conference League last season by progressing as far as the semi-finals. There, they were knocked out by Chelsea FC – establishing a common thread between Kosugi and his new club in European competition. 

The teenager describes the meetings with the Blues as the most challenging of his career to date, and that former Chelsea winger Noni Madueke is the toughest opponent he has faced.

Role models

Frankfurt’s new No. 26 has named two compatriots as role models for his position. Speaking to Sportbladet in May 2024, he said: “As a left-back, I look up to Yuto Nagatomo because of the success he achieved in Europe in that role. I also admire Atsuto Uchida, who played in the Champions League as a right-back. They’re the players I look up to – and the reason I wanted to play in Europe.”

Japanese legacy in Frankfurt

Kosugi also says the Eagles’ Japanese history was another attraction: “Ritsu Doan already plays for Eintracht. Then there’s also Makoto Hasebe, Junichi Inamoto and Daichi Kamada.”

Youth international 

Kosugi is also flying the flag for his homeland, even if he has not yet represented Japan at full international level due to his young age. In June 2023 he captained the Samurai Blue to glory at the AFC U17 Asian Cup as they beat South Korea 3-0 in the final, and in November that same year he was also skipper as Japan reached the last 16 at the U17 World Cup. 

He was called up to the U20s in 2024 and then the U23s last autumn. Kosugi names U17 national team coach Yoshiro Moriyama as his biggest mentor during this period.

Welcome to the heart of Europe

His new coach, Dino Toppmöller, is already looking forward to working with Kosugi. Eintracht’s final competitive match of 2025 had barely finished in Hamburg when the head coach was asked about the club’s second winter signing from Sweden, following Love Arrhov. 

“He’s a player who can play at left-back or on the left flank,” said Toppmöller. “He’s a very young guy and he’ll certainly need a bit of time to adapt to the new level. Keita’s a very hard worker, he’s got a very good, very clean technique, he likes getting forward a lot and he’s good defending one-on-one. We’re looking forward to working with a player who has great discipline, a strong work ethic and a real desire to learn – and who was very to come to Frankfurt.”

All that’s left to say is, Konnichiwa, Keita Kosugi!