If you’re an avid follower of the J.League-sphere or a reader of J. League Regista, you know very well how the “The Market Report” is a fixed column for the pre-season. There are though two particular features we will have this time around: a) the main transfer market window happened in the Summer, while before it used to be just a repair session; b) we’re having these articles published in the beginning of August, so something else might happen outside of this list.
These articles have analysed all the transfers happened in this division until August 3rd, 2026 – and that’s how we’re gonna go forward. I have to admit the squads have done most of the job already in the Winter, giving their new signings time to adapt to the new realities throughout the transition tournament in the spring, the “100-Year Vision League”. And for some of them, that move worked, settling in pretty well.
But now we’re in “real deal” territory, and the first season-ever with a European calendar is about to start. It’s a major change for Japanese football, very much discussed, and approved a couple of years ago. It started as well in a strange year, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup to provide a fruitful break, plus the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in sight, giving another help to the J.League in terms of managing the newly-installed calendar.
I feel the top-flight is more balanced than last year. Kashima Antlers will have to put everything they have in the AFC Champions League Elite, and this will definitely take out some energies. Other teams will have continental commitments too, which leaves some space for suspense. Furthermore, some familiar faces are back: will the Brazilians ever learn? By signing for Vissel Kobe, Anderson Lopes is back for a fourth (!) stint in Japan, while Yan Matheus joined Antlers after his adventure in Qatar.
10. Kenshin Yasuda | Oita Trinita » V-Varen Nagasaki
We’re starting slow. Kenshin Yasuda is among the many Japanese players who tried a European experience in last five years, only to come back pretty soon (and it’s strange how Belgium is mostly the country associated with those attempts). His adventure from Oita Trinita to the youth ranks of Genk ended after 18 months, where he played some games, but never made the first team even once. And then he decided to come back to Japan.
But instead of staying in Oita, where probably the level was too low, Yasuda took the chance and leapt towards J1, joining V-Varen Nagasaki. I always felt they needed to bolster a bit the squad, and the young midfielder seems a good start. He had a strong in the 2024 J2 League, so I think Yasuda will bring the depth Nagasaki seems to need in that position. And being a 21-year-old prospect, he can only improve.
9. Rei Ieizumi | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo » Mito HollyHock
It’s gonna be tough for Mito HollyHock to keep their status in J1. My gut feeling, especially after the HYVL, is that they’re gonna be fun to watch and they’ll fight until the end, but they’ll get relegated in the end – a bit like Ventforet Kofu in 2011, or Yokohama FC in 2021. Nonetheless, many players could have a chance to shine, and one of them might be the addition they had in defence: centre-back Rei Ieizumi.
He reminds me a lot of Ryuho Kikuchi, who was on his way to a career featuring in the national team before injuries completely derailed his career. Ieizumi had a wonderful stint at Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and he’s a feel-good story for Japanese football: he debuted with Iwaki FC, won immediately the J3 League with the club and featured as well in the Best XI from that season. He had four years completely upwards, and I’m wondering if Mito won’t change the trajectory of his rise.
8. Matheus Bueno | Shimizu S-Pulse » Kashima Antlers
Kashima Antlers didn’t need to improve their roster that much, just keep the pieces around and maybe deepen the rotation. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that much, but they found a way to improve their midfield: they let Kei Chinen go to Yokohama F. Marinos (Toru Oniki never liked him that much even when they were together at Frontale), and his replacement is actually a player who could ball.
Matheus Bueno showed already at Shimizu S-Pulse that he could be one of those Brazilians who are able to fit within the J.League for a long time. He’s already 28 years old, but he even wore the captain’s armband at S-Pulse, and now he’s gonna pair Kento Misao in a very strong pair of holding midfielders. The no. 8 from Kashima Antlers might be one of the bargains of this upcoming season.
7. Kotaro Hayashi | Machida Zelvia » Urawa Red Diamonds
I’m gonna be frank: I really like what Machida Zelvia are doing in the transfer windows throughout these years. Nonetheless, a couple of players who just left the Tokyo-bound outfit are in this Top 10, and Kotaro Hayashi seems a good example to showcase. The young left-back did very well at Yokohama FC in his only year there, then joined Zelvia once they reached the top-flight. In 2.5 seasons, he featured a lot under head coach Go Kuroda.
And yet, when they got a hold of Takahiro Akimoto returning from Belgium, Machida let Hayashi go and he joined Urawa Red Diamonds, who… definitely needed a reboot of their roster after these dreadful years. And Hayashi is a good start, especially for new head coach Cho Kwi-jae, who built a lot of his success on solid full- or wing-backs. Hayashi is just 25, but he’s seen a lot in these two years, and he can be a grand improvement compared to the departing Takuya Ogiwara.
6. Kota Watanabe | Yokohama F. Marinos » Vissel Kobe
Honestly, it’s an interesting move for everyone involved. After six seasons in Yokohama and two J1 titles, probably Kota Watanabe couldn’t achieve more than this. He’s just 27, but he’s completed already a solid route in his career. Watanabe could represent that kind of J.Leaguer who’s starting to appear in rosters: good player, possible national team material (he was in the squad for the 2019 Copa América), but never been to Europe and mostly tied to situations in his home country.
A decade ago, those players would have been the likes of Tomoaki Makino or Hotaru Yamaguchi. Today, Watanabe fits the bill. Marinos will be scrambling to replace him, while Vissel Kobe have finally some rotations to show in the midfield, in a department where everyone is getting older: Yosuke Ideguchi will be 30 in a few days; Takahiro Ogihara is 34, while Haruya Ide is 32. Yuta Goke and Yuya Kuwasaki are in their late 20s, so… Watanabe was needed.
5. Na Sang-ho | Machida Zelvia » Fagiano Okayama
Speaking of Zelvia letting players go… Na Sang-ho is another bulletproof example. Another first team member who put a lot of minutes on his shoulders in these last two seasons, being used mostly as a joker from the bench or a rotation member. Nonetheless, the South Korean forward was a trusted resource for Machida, and he proved as well that his first J.League stint – which happened back in 2019 with FC Tokyo – wasn’t a fluke.
Now, though, Na Sang-ho is off to Fagiano Okayama, who are the winners of this bargain. Head coach Takashi Kiyama just lost Ryunosuke Sato, who came back to FC Tokyo after his loan in Okayama before moving to Europe. In the “100-Year Vision League”, Fagiano did well, but they were missing someone like Sato, and Na Sang-ho might be the perfect replacement – an expert player, almost 30 years old, with FIFA World Cup games in his resume, and a granitic J.League standing.
4. Takuma Asano & Sébastien Haller | RCD Mallorca (SPA) & FC Utrecht (NED) » Sanfrecce Hiroshima
It could be a bet, but if it works out… oh boy, Sanfrecce Hiroshima then must win the title. I think no one would doubt about how these two players are an improvement compared to the ones who cleared room for them. Both Ryo Germain and Kosuke Kinoshita left to join Shimizu S-Pulse; both are in the early 30s, and both didn’t exactly impress in Hiroshima. To replace them, Sanfrecce opted for a romantic option, and a possible European bargain.
Takuma Asano was probably destined to return where everything started. His stint at Mallorca was disappointing, but he could score a few goals to help out (if he’s injury free, which is another matter). Sébastien Haller, instead, is a different beast; the moves in his career between England, Germany, and the Netherlands moved more than €100M. He played a FIFA World Cup with Ivory Coast. His resume is impressive, although he’s on a downwards trajectory (just five league goals in the last two seasons).
3. Shion Homma | Urawa Red Diamonds » FC Tokyo
I lost my hopes. Once he was back from a disappointing and befuddling stint in Belgium, Shion Homma seemed to have lost all his magic. His value dropped, he ended up in that hell that Urawa Red Diamonds were (and could still be), and barely featured in J1 – after having lighted up the J2 League with Albirex Niigata. I was so heartbroken, but then… something blossomed back. His loan to Cerezo Osaka didn’t see him starting, but these last 18 months at least showed some glimpses of his old self.
And now Homma has left Urawa Red Diamonds to join FC Tokyo, which seems a move fitting a precise puzzle: Homma will find again Rikizo Matsuhashi, the manager who helped his growth in Niigata; FC Tokyo just lost both Ryunosuke Sato and Keita Endo, so they definitely have space for Homma in terms of minutes; and the club seems on a rising trajectory. Homma could be part of that rise.
2. Erison | Kawasaki Frontale » JEF United Chiba
It’s incredible how one of the biggest transfers ever in the history of J.League flaked out like this. Yes, because we can’t say Erison failed at Kawasaki Frontale. It’s hard to argue that a Brazilian no. 9 with 34 goals in 91 games is a missed target. Sure, Erison had big expectations – because of his price tag (€3.2M from São Paulo, into the Top 10 all-time for a Japanese club), and because of how good Leandro Damião did with Frontale in the years prior.
It’s even more incredible to think that Erison left right after a 15-goals-season in 2025, plus seven more goals in just 15 games in the HYVL. Evidently, something didn’t trigger between him and head coach Shigetoshi Hasebe. And now Erison is off to JEF United Chiba, who acquired a major striker, and they’re gonna need every possible goal from the Brazilian to avoid relegation (and Brazilian have done particularly well with a JEF United Chiba jersey upfront).
1. Yusuke Matsuo | Urawa Red Diamonds » Machida Zelvia
Remember when I mentioned how I like the moves Machida Zelvia are doing every year? Well, this is basically a declaration of war. Because yes, they let Na Sang-ho leave for nothing, but they got in return something better. They got a flashy winger, with European experience, and who’s still 29 years old. He never played for the national team, but he has the talent to do so; and I still can’t explain what didn’t work out in Belgium.
Yusuke Matsuo has been spending the last seasons with Urawa Red Diamonds, the squad who nurtured his talent in their youth ranks. But Reds were such a disaster that a move was probably obligated to avoid wasting his final good years in the league. He seems a decent fit for the 3-4-2-1 system implemented by head coach Go Kuroda; and he could be as well a solid character to fit in the squad, featuring the right amount of grit-and-grind to make it.
I know Zelvia have as well the commitment towards the AFC Champions League Two (which they could very much win: remember they’ve almost won the ACL Elite just a few months ago), but there’s a lot of depth in the squad, there are two players for almost every role, and it’s a very expert roster. With Matsuo coming in, Machida might have wanted to communicate to the rest of the league that they’re not a fluke – they’re here to stay at the top.
And that’s a wrap! The J1 League will have the bragging rights with Yokohama F. Marinos facing Kashima Antlers in the opening match at the Kokuritsu. If you wanna know more about the upcoming season, you can read as well about Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s must chase to a J1 title, or how things turned dark for both Cerezo and Gamba in Osaka.
