Takashi Inui

Japanese footballer

Takashi Inui
乾 貴士

Inui with Eintracht Frankfurt
Personal information
Date of birth	(1988-06-02) 2 June 1988 (age 37)
Place of birth	Ōmihachiman, Japan
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s)	Winger attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	Shimizu S-Pulse
Number	33
Youth career
1995–2004	Osaka Saison FC
2004–2006	Yasu High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2009	Yokohama F. Marinos	7	(0)
2008	→ Cerezo Osaka (loan)	20	(6)
2009–2011	Cerezo Osaka	94	(29)
2011–2012	VfL Bochum	30	(7)
2012–2015	Eintracht Frankfurt	75	(7)
2015–2018	Eibar	89	(11)
2018–2019	Betis	8	(0)
2019	→ Alavés (loan)	12	(2)
2019–2021	Eibar	57	(3)
2021–2022	Cerezo Osaka	13	(4)
2022–	Shimizu S-Pulse	101	(19)
International career‡
2006	Japan U21	2	(0)
2009–2019	Japan	36	(6)
Medal record Representing  Japan AFC Asian Cup 2019 United Arab Emirates
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15 September 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 March 2019, 14:40 (UTC)

Takashi Inui (乾 貴士, Inui Takashi; born 2 June 1988) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder and currently play for J1 League club, Shimizu S-Pulse.

Club career

Inui was an All Japan High School Soccer Tournament champion in 2006 with Yasu High School.^[2]

In 2007, Inui joined Yokohama F. Marinos of the J. League Division 1 and made his debut as a professional against Yokohama F.C. in a league match on 10 March. However, he failed to find a regular spot at Marinos and was loaned to then J. League Division 2 Cerezo Osaka in June 2008, earning himself a permanent move at the end of the season.^[3]

In July 2011, Inui made the jump to Europe, joining Germany's VfL Bochum.^[4] He made his debut in the 2. Bundesliga, when he started in a 2–1 home defeat versus FC St. Pauli on 13 August 2011.

In July 2012, Inui signed a three-year contract with newly promoted Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt after impressive performance in the 2. Bundesliga.^[5]

Eibar

On 26 August 2015, Inui was transferred to La Liga side SD Eibar for a then club record fees of € 300,000, after agreeing to a three-year contract.^[6][7] He became the first Asian player to play for the club. On moving to Eibar, Inui said, “It was always my dream to play in the Spanish league one day. It’s been my dream since I was a child and now it’s come true”.^[8]

Takashi made his debut for Eibar on 23 September 2015, starting and providing one assist in a 2–2 draw against Levante. He scored his first league goal for Eibar on 10 January 2016 in a 2–1 win against RCD Espanyol, scoring the first goal in the 15th minute of game and also providing assist for second goal.

In April 2017, as the club was chasing a UEFA Europa League place, he was controversially called back to his homeland by Japan's prime minister to serve as a delegate for the visit of King Felipe VI of Spain to Japan.^[9] On 21 May 2017, Inui became the first Japanese footballer to score against FC Barcelona, sniping the ball via cross-bar behind Ter Stegen, twice.^[10]

Real Betis

On 1 June 2018, upon expiration of his Eibar contract, Inui joined Real Betis on a free transfer for a three-year deal.^[11] He made his debut for Betis on 17 August 2018, coming on as a substitute for William Carvalho for the last 25 minutes in 3–0 loss against Levante.

Alavés (loan)

The following 24 January, after being sparingly used, he moved to fellow league Deportivo Alavés on loan until the end of the season.^[12] He made his debut for Alavés on 11 January 2019 in a 2–0 win Levante. He scored his first goal for Alavés on 2 March 2019 in a 2–1 victory against Villarreal.

Return to Eibar

On 24 July 2019, Inui returned to Eibar on a three-year deal,^[13] for a €2 million transfer fee.^[14]

Shimizu S-Pulse

On 22 July 2022, Shimizu S-Pulse announced that they have signed Inui after his contract with Cerezo Osaka was terminated.^[15] On 27 October 2024, Inui was brought his club secure promotion to J1 League from next season after win at away game against Tochigi SC 1-2 in matchweek 36. Seven days later at same year, Inui was brought his club secure champions of J2 in 2024 season after defeat Iwaki FC with narrowly score 1-0 in matchweek 37.

International career

Inui made his full international debut for Japan on 20 January 2009 in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification against Yemen.^[16] In May 2018 he was named in Japan's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.^[17] On 24 June, Inui scored his first World Cup goal in a 2–2 draw over Senegal during their second group stage match of the tournament. Inui went on to score another goal and registered an assist in the tournament.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of the start for 2025 season.^[19][20][21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League Cup[b]		Continental[c]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yokohama F. Marinos	2007	J.League Div 1	7	0	0	0	3	0	—		10	0
	2008		0	0	—		3	0	—		3	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	6	0	—		13	0
Cerezo Osaka	2008	J.League Div 2	20	6	2	0	—		—		22	6
	2009		47	20	1	1	—		—		48	21
	2010	J.League Div 1	33	4	2	1	6	0	—		41	5
	2011		14	5	—		—		7	4	21	9
	Total		114	35	5	2	6	0	7	4	132	41
VfL Bochum	2011–12	2. Bundesliga	30	7	2	0	—		—		32	7
Eintracht Frankfurt	2012–13	Bundesliga	33	6	1	0	—		—		34	6
	2013–14		14	0	2	1	—		6	1	22	2
	2014–15		27	1	2	0	—		0	0	29	1
	2015–16		1	0	1	0	—		0	0	2	0
	Total		75	7	6	1	—		6	1	87	9
Eibar	2015–16	La Liga	27	3	2	0	—		—		29	3
	2016–17		28	3	2	0	—		—		30	3
	2017–18		34	5	1	0	—		—		35	5
	2019–20		29	2	0	0	—		—		29	2
	2020–21		28	1	2	0	—		—		30	1
	Total		146	14	7	0	—		—		153	14
Real Betis	2018–19	La Liga	8	0	2	0	—		4	0	14	0
Alavés (loan)	2018–19	La Liga	12	2	0	0	—		—		12	2
Cerezo Osaka	2021	J1 League	8	1	0	0	4	0	1	0	13	1
	2022		5	3	—		1	1	—		6	4
	Total		13	4	0	0	5	1	1	0	19	5
Shimizu S-Pulse	2022	J1 League	10	1	0	0	—				10	1
	2023	J2 League	32	10	0	0	3	0	—		35	10
	2024		30	5	1	0	—				31	5
	2025	J1 League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		72	16	1	0	3	0	—		76	16
Career total			477	85	23	3	20	0	18	5	539	93

1. Includes Emperor's Cup and DFB-Pokal and Copa del Rey.
2. Includes J. League Cup.
3. Includes AFC Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

International

As of 26 March 2019^[22]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2009	1	0
	2010	2	0
	2011	0	0
	2012	3	0
	2013	6	0
	2014	2	2
	2015	5	0
	2016	0	0
	2017	6	0
	2018	6	4
	2019	5	0
Total		36	6

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Inui goal.

List of international goals scored by Takashi Inui

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	14 November 2014	Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan	Honduras	4–0	6–0	Friendly
2				5–0
3	12 June 2018	Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria	Paraguay	1–1	4–2	Friendly
4				2–1
5	24 June 2018	Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, Russia	Senegal	1–1	2–2	2018 FIFA World Cup
6	2 July 2018	Rostov Arena, Rostov-on-Don, Russia	Belgium	2–0	2–3	2018 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Shimizu S-Pulse

• J2 League: 2024

Individual

• J2 League Best XI: 2023,^[23] 2024^[24]

References

1. "National Team Squad". jfa.or.jp. Japan Football Association. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
2. 前回覇者の鹿児島実を破り、野洲が滋賀県勢初の優勝. Sportsnavi (in Japanese). 9 January 2006. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
3. 乾貴士がＣ大阪に完全移籍. Supportista (in Japanese). 17 December 2008. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
4. "Bochum holt einen Japaner" [Bochum sign a Japanese player] (in German). DFL. 28 July 2011. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
5. "Inui signs for Frankfurt". Sky Sports. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
6. "Eibar break club transfer record to sign Takashi Inui". AS. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
7. "El japonés Takashi Inui, nuevo jugador de la SD Eibar para las tres próximas temporadas" [Japanese Takashi Inui, new player of SD Eibar for the following three seasons] (in Spanish). Eibar's official website. 26 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
8. "Eibar break club transfer record to sign Takashi Inui". AS. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
9. "Inui missing Eibar matches to attend Spanish royal trip to Japan". Marca. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
10. "Japan International Inui Makes history". FourFourTwo. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
11. "Real Betis announce Takashi Inui signing from Eibar". AS English. 1 June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
12. "Real Betis and Deportivo Alavés reach an agreement for the loan of Takashi Inui". Real Betis. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
13. "Takashi Inui regresa a casa y será armero las tres próximas temporadas" [Takashi Inui returns home and will be armero for the three following seasons] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
14. "Takashi Inui leaves Real Betis, returns to Eibar". Football-Espana. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
15. "Shimizu sign troublemaking ex-Japan midfielder Takashi Inui". The Mainichi. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
16. "AFC ASIAN CUP – QATAR 2011 MATCH SUMMARY". Asian Football Confederation. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
17. "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia".^{[dead link]}
18. "Japan rallies for draw against Senegal to remain on track for knockout stage at World Cup. He then later scored Japan's second goal against Belgium in the round of 16 from 35 yards out. Japan then later lost the match 3-2". The Japan Times. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
19. "Japan – Takashi Inui – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway.com.
20. "Takashi Inui > Club matches". Worldfootball.net.
21. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 284 out of 289)
22. "Takashi Inui". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
23. "Ｊ２受賞選手：2023Ｊ２リーグアウォーズ：Ｊリーグ.jp". Ｊリーグ.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 December 2023.
24. "Ｊ２受賞選手：2024Ｊ２リーグアウォーズ：Ｊリーグ.jp". Ｊリーグ.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 December 2024.

External links

• Takashi Inui – FIFA competition record (archived)
• Takashi Inui at National-Football-Teams.com
• Takashi Inui at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• Takashi Inui at Soccerway
• Takashi Inui at BDFutbol

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