Ao Tanaka

Ao Tanaka (田中 碧, Tanaka Ao; born 10 September 1998) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Leeds United and the Japan national team.

Ao Tanaka
田中 碧

Tanaka in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Ao Tanaka[1]
Date of birth	(1998-09-10) 10 September 1998 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth	Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	Leeds United
Number	22
Youth career
2001–2006	Saginuma SC
2007–2016	Kawasaki Frontale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2022	Kawasaki Frontale	79	(8)
2021–2022	→ Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan)	29	(1)
2022−2024	Fortuna Düsseldorf	55	(8)
2024–	Leeds United	43	(5)
International career‡
2019–2021	Japan U23	18	(2)
2019–	Japan	32	(8)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 March 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Kawasaki Frontale

Raised for a decade in the youth ranks of hometown club Kawasaki Frontale, Tanaka made his J1 League debut in September 2018 against Consadole Sapporo, scoring his first professional goal just six minutes after he was subbed on.^[4] As injuries struck the midfield options of Kawasaki Frontale during the 2019 season, he earned more starts with his club, participating in 24 J1 League matches throughout the season, accumulating 31 matches in total during the year, across five different competitions. As his performances continuously caught the eyes of many, and his manager's approval, he was then awarded the 2019 J.League Rookie of the Year Award in his first full professional season. With this feat, he is the only Kawasaki Frontale player ever to win this award.^[5]

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 26 June 2021, after two and a half professional seasons with Kawasaki Frontale, he joined German 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf on a year-long loan with an option to buy.^[6]

On 28 April 2022, Fortuna Düsseldorf, satisfied with his club and national team performances, exercised the buy-out option in his club contract to acquire him, paying his release clause to get him officially signed for the club on 28 April 2022. He signed a three-year contract with the expiration date being 30 June 2025, encouraged by a sequence of game time with their first-team in the 2021–22 2. Bundesliga.^[7]

Leeds United

On 30 August 2024, Tanaka signed for EFL Championship club Leeds United on a four-year deal.^[8] By November 2024 he had become a key player for the team, being described as "undroppable".^[9] He scored his first goal for The Whites in a 3–3 league tie on 4 January 2025 at Hull.^[10] That goal against The Tigers was voted 2024-25 Leeds United Goal of the Season.^[11]

On 3 May 2025, Tanaka won the 2024-25 EFL Championship title following a 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.^[12] Tanaka scored five league goals during the 2024-25 Leeds United season, which was joint-eighth (with Pascal Struijk) on the squad, and he played a big part in Leeds getting promoted back to the Premier League since relegation in May 2023.^[13] He was also voted Leeds United Players' Player of the Year for the 2024-25 season by his teammates.^[14] Tanaka was also named to the 2024-25 EFL Championship Team of the Season, along with his teammates Dan James and Jayden Bogle.^[15]

International career

Tanaka made his debut for the Japan national football team on 14 December 2019, in a 5–0 win against Hong Kong in the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship.^[16] In the summer of 2021, he was named in the 22-man squad for the 2020 Olympic Games alongside two Kawasaki Frontale ex-teammates, Kaoru Mitoma, and Reo Hatate. He started every match for Japan during the tournament.

Throughout the 2020 season, Tanaka established for a good reputation among the Kawasaki Frontale players, playing a total of more than 2500 minutes across all competitions, being a starter in most of the matches he played. His performances with the Kawasaki Frontale team also helped him earn caps with the Japan under-23 team, including a two-goal performance that helped the Japan under-23s earn a 3–2 win over the Brazil under-23 team in a friendly match at 14 October 2019.^[17]

He played his first match in the AFC qualification tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on 12 October 2021, where he scored his first international goal in a 2–1 home win against Australia.^[18][19] On 1 November 2022, Tanaka was included in Japan's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[20]

On 1 December, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Spain, which qualified his national team to the knockout stage as top of their group.^[21] That goal sparked much dispute over its validity since the ball seemed to be out-of-play when Kaoru Mitoma assisted Tanaka. The dispute was only settled after the match when the Associated Press released a crucial evidence, the bird's eye photo of the ball, taken by Petr David Josek.^[22][23] Josek revealed that a total of four agencies — AP, Reuters, AFP and Getty Images —^[23] were approved to enter the suspended catwalk to take bird's eye photos, but the latter three missed the shot because they were at the opposite side of the pitch anticipating a Spanish goal instead.^[22][23]

Personal life

Tanaka is the childhood friend of fellow Japan international and former Kawasaki Frontale teammate Kaoru Mitoma, who currently plays for English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. Both of them attended Saginuma elementary school in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, and promised to make Japan proud as a professional footballer.^[24]

His parents originally wanted to give him a different name. However, the sky was so blue the day he was born that they decided to name him Ao, which means "blue" in Japanese. Ao started playing football in kindergarten, and in addition to football, he played many other sports, including gymnastics. However, football was the one he enjoyed the most, and he started kicking the ball against the wall alone in the park.

Ao entered his local elementary school in Saginuma and joined the elementary school's football club, Saginuma SC. The club was a powerhouse in the area. Mr. Sawada, who was the coach of Saginuma SC at that time, remembers well the trial session before joining the club. Ao was kicking the ball happily at first, but halfway through he was crying in the corner of the schoolyard. When Mr. Sawada asked him why he was crying, he replied, "I'm bored with this practice. I want to practice harder." Mr. Sawada was surprised to see such ambition in such a young boy.^[25]

He used a Nambu iron kettle to get enough iron, which helped improve his anaemia.^[26]

As of December 2022, he dated Airi Suzuki, a former member of the Japanese idol group Cute.^[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 May 2025^[28][29]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kawasaki Frontale	2018	J1 League	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
	2019	J1 League	24	1	1	0	1	0	5[c]	1	31	2
	2020	J1 League	31	5	2	1	5	0	—		38	6
	2021	J1 League	20	1	0	0	0	0	1[d]	0	21	1
	Total		79	8	3	1	6	0	6	1	94	10
Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan)	2021–22	2. Bundesliga	29	1	1	0	—		—		30	1
Fortuna Düsseldorf	2022–23	2. Bundesliga	22	1	3	0	—		—		25	1
	2023–24	2. Bundesliga	30	7	4	1	—		2[e]	0	36	8
	2024–25	2. Bundesliga	3	0	1	0	—		—		4	0
	Total		84	9	9	1	0	0	2	0	95	10
Leeds United	2024–25[30]	Championship	43	5	2	0	—		—		45	5
Career total			206	22	14	2	6	0	8	0	233	25

1. Includes Emperor's Cup, DFB-Pokal, and FA Cup
2. Includes J. League Cup and EFL Cup
3. Four appearances and one goal in AFC Champions League, one appearance in Japanese Super Cup
4. Appearance in Japanese Super Cup
5. Appearances in 2. Bundesliga promotion play-offs

International

As of match played 25 March 2025^[3]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2019	2	0
	2021	3	1
	2022	13	2
	2023	6	3
	2024	6	2
	2025	2	0
Total		32	8

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Ao Tanaka

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 October 2021	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan	Australia	1–0	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	2 June 2022	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Paraguay	4–1	4–1	2022 Kirin Challenge Cup
3.	1 December 2022	Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar	Spain	2–1	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup
4.	9 September 2023	Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany	Germany	4–1	4–1	Friendly
5.	13 October 2023	Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata, Japan	Canada	1–0	4–1	Friendly
6.				4–0
7.	1 January 2024	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Thailand	1–0	5–0	Friendly
8.	21 March 2024	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	North Korea	1–0	1–0	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Kawasaki Frontale

• J1 League: 2017, 2018, 2020^{[citation needed]}
• Emperor's Cup: 2020^{[citation needed]}
• J.League Cup: 2019^{[citation needed]}
• Japanese Super Cup: 2019, 2021^{[citation needed]}

Leeds United

• EFL Championship: 2024–25^[31]

Individual

• J.League Rookie of the Year: 2019^{[citation needed]}
• J.League Best XI: 2020^{[citation needed]}
• Maurice Revello Tournament Third Best Player: 2019^[32]
• Maurice Revello Tournament Best XI: 2019^[33]
• EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2024-25^[34]
• Leeds United Players' Player of the Year: 2024-25^[35]
• Leeds United Goal of the Season: 2024-25^[36]