Hiroki Ito #21

Profile

After moving from Júbilo Iwata in J2 to Stuttgart in 2021 Ito quickly established himself as a real talent in European football. Renowned for his exceptional left-footed precision and his long-range distribution, he combines physical strength in duels with an aggressive mindset, while his intelligent positioning and covering deny opponents time and space. He made a big-money move to Bayern Munich in 2024 and, despite suffering three serious injuries soon after joining, he made a strong recovery to become a big presence in their back line. He feels at home in Germany, telling Bayern’s website last year there’s “really good sushi in Munich”. He added: “I’m a typical Japanese person. Politeness is very important to me. The German and Japanese mentalities are similar, with cleanliness, politeness and punctuality. But I’m not shy. I always fight for 90 minutes on the pitch.”

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