Tottenham transfer nears as player says emotional farewell

Kota Takai will now complete the formalities of his £5million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur after saying farewell to the Kawasaki Frontale supporters on Saturday.

It had been announced ahead of the J.League match against Kashima Antlers that it would be the 20-year-old Japan international's final game for the club before he would make the switch to an "overseas club". That ensured a sold-out stadium as the centre-back played the full encounter and helped secure a 2-1 victory against the high-flying visitors.

After the game, Takai's team-mates formed a guard of honour for him as he re-emerged from the tunnel, all either high-fiving the defender or slapping him on the back of the head. He then walked out alone across the pitch to the centre circle. The youngster then stood there as a video tribute to him was played on the big screens inside the Todoroki Stadium ahead of his move to join up with Thomas Frank's team.

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The video compilation showed highlights from across his 81 games at the club, in which he scored four goals and one assist. Takai played a big role in Kawasaki winning the Japanese Super Cup last year and was named the J.League's Young Player of the Year.

Takaialso got plenty of experience in the AFC Champions League as an integral part of the Kawasaki side that reached the final in May. He made his senior Japan debut just after his 20th birthday and has appeared in four World Cup qualifiers so far, which would have been more in a squad mainly made up of players plying their trade in Europe but for an adductor injury suffered in October last year.

The video to the supporters showed him as a child as he joined Kawasaki's youth set-up as a seven-year-old and after another package of highlights it ended with the moving image of a shooting star above the stadium to presumably signify his Premier League move.

Takai was then handed the microphone and launched into a near three-minute speech that brought applause from his team-mates and the fans and ended with him bowing to all corners of the stadium. The supporters then sang as he walked around the pitch and waved to and applauded them all.

Freelance football editor and former Goal.com Japan chief editor and DAZN news Japan chief editor Tasuku Okawa, a J.League expert, told football.london last month about the young defender. He said: "Takai has a calm, almost nonchalant personality. He doesn't get overly tense or emotional, which might actually help him on the mental side. He gives off the impression of someone who won't be overwhelmed by the big stage and could handle it with composure."

That certainly seemed to be the case with what looked like an emotional ceremony for the fans and his team-mates but the soon-to-be Tottenham defender appeared to take it all in his stride before posing for photos with his family. He will now make his way to north London to like up with Frank and his Spurs team-mates after completing his transfer.

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