Yūki Ōtsu

Yūki Ōtsu (大津 祐樹, Ōtsu Yūki; born 24 March 1990) is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a winger.

Yūki Ōtsu
大津 祐樹

Ōtsu with Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Yūki Ōtsu
Date of birth	(1990-03-24) 24 March 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth	Mito, Ibaraki, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, winger
Youth career
1998–2001	Shinsho Tokiwa SSS
2002–2004	Kashima Antlers
2005–2008	Seiritsu Gakuen High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2011	Kashiwa Reysol	66	(7)
2011–2012	Borussia Mönchengladbach	3	(0)
2011–2012	Borussia Mönchengladbach II	9	(0)
2012–2015	VVV-Venlo	50	(6)
2015–2017	Kashiwa Reysol	49	(3)
2018–2020	Yokohama F. Marinos	60	(1)
2021–2023	Júbilo Iwata	77	(9)
Total		305	(26)
International career
2011–2012	Japan U-23	16	(6)
2013	Japan	2	(0)
Medal record Kashiwa Reysol Winner J1 League 2011 Runner-up Emperor's Cup 2008 Yokohama F. Marinos Runner-up J.League Cup 2018 Winner J1 League 2019 Júbilo Iwata Winner J2 League 2021
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 21 July 2011, Ōtsu was signed by Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on a three-year contract.^[1] He made his league debut on 22 October 2011, coming on as a late substitute for Mike Hanke,^[2] in a 1–0 away defeat against 1899 Hoffenheim.^[3]

VVV-Venlo

After having lost prospect with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Ōtsu signed with Dutch Eredivisie side VVV-Venlo until the summer of 2014 on 31 August 2012.^[4] He was supposed to succeed his countryman Keisuke Honda who had impressed and made a transfer to AC Milan half a year earlier. However, on 15 December 2013, Ōtsu badly injured his achilles tendon. After a long rehabilitation, Ōtsu became fit again and VVV-Venlo extended his expiring contract until the summer of 2015.^[5]

Return to Kashiwa Reysol

On 13 December 2014, it was announced that Otsu would leave VVV-Venlo in the winter transfer window. He had signed a deal with his former team Kashiwa Reysol.^[6]

International career

On 2 July 2012, Japan U23 manager Takashi Sekizuka included Ōtsu in the Japan under-23s for the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[7] He made his debut in their opening match on 26 July 2012 against Spain at Hampden Park, Glasgow, where he scored the opening and winning goal.^[8] He then went on to score in both Japan's quarter-final and semi-final against Egypt and Mexico respectively. On 31 January 2013, head coach Alberto Zaccheroni included Ōtsu in the Japan national team for a friendly against Latvia. On 6 February 2013, Ōtsu made his debut for the national team, replacing Shinji Okazaki in the 82nd minute.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		League Cup[b]		Continental[c]		Other[d]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kashiwa Reysol	2008	J.League Division 1	14	0	2	0	3	0	–		–		19	0
	2009	J.League Division 1	33	6	1	0	5	2	–		–		39	8
	2010	J.League Division 2	9	1	1	0	–		–		–		10	1
	2011	J.League Division 1	10	0	0	0	1	0	–		–		11	0
	2015	J1 League	14	1	2	0	1	0	8	0	–		25	1
	2016	J1 League	19	1	4	0	1	0	–		–		24	1
	2017	J1 League	16	1	4	0	3	0	–		–		23	1
	Total		115	10	14	0	14	2	8	0	–		151	12
Borussia Mönchengladbach	2011–12	Bundesliga	3	0	1	0	–		–		–		4	0
VVV-Venlo	2012–13	Eredivisie	22	1	1	0	–		–		–		23	1
	2013–14	Eerste Divisie	20	4	2	0	–		–		–		22	4
	2014–15	Eerste Divisie	8	1	1	0	–		–		–		9	1
	Total		50	6	4	0	–		–		–		54	6
Yokohama F. Marinos	2018	J1 League	25	1	2	0	9	2	–		–		36	3
	2019	J1 League	23	0	3	1	6	2	–		–		32	3
	2020	J1 League	12	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	15	0
	Total		60	1	5	1	15	4	3	0	0	0	83	6
Júbilo Iwata	2021	J2 League	40	6	2	0	–		–		–		42	6
	2022	J1 League	26	3	1	0	3	0	–		–		30	3
	2023	J2 League	11	0	0	0	3	0	–		–		14	0
	Total		77	9	3	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	86	9
Career total			305	26	27	1	35	6	11	0	0	0	378	33

1. Appearances in Emperor's Cup, DFB-Pokal and KNVB Cup
2. Appearances in J. League Cup
3. Appearances in AFC Champions League
4. Appearances in Japanese Super Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan U23	2011	3	2
	2012	11	4
Total		14	6
Japan[14]	2013	2	0
Total		2	0

Scores and results list Japan U23's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ōtsu goal.

List of international goals scored by Yūki Ōtsu

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	22 November 2011	Bahrain National Stadium, Manama, Bahrain	Bahrain	1–0	2–0	2012 Summer Olympics qualification
2	27 November 2011	National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo, Japan	Syria	2–1	2–1	2012 Summer Olympics qualification
3	21 July 2012	City Ground, West Bridgford, England	Mexico	2–1	2–1	Friendly[15]
4	26 July 2012	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Spain	1–0	1–0	2012 Summer Olympics
5	4 August 2012	Old Trafford, Manchester, England	Egypt	3–0	3–0	2012 Summer Olympics
6	7 August 2012	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Mexico	1–0	1–3	2012 Summer Olympics

Honours

Kashiwa Reysol

• J. League Division 2: 2010

Yokohama F.Marinos

• J1 League: 2019

Júbilo Iwata

• J2 League: 2021