It’s perhaps an understatement to call Junya Itō’s maiden season with Stade de Reims, impressive. The word does not quite feel like it captures the extent to which the late-blooming star demonstrated his immense talent and his preternatural ability to read his opponent.
It’s strange to think back and realise there were question marks surrounding the club’s move for the Japanese international when he joined from Genk in 2022.
The winger had arguably grown into one of the best players in the Belgian league during his three-and-a-half-year stay in the nation, but there are always some doubts when a player steps into an unfamiliar league.
These questions were perhaps compounded by the fact that the player was 29 when he made his move to Ligue 1, there was a feeling that if he had the talent then why would he not have been caught by a club earlier?
These suspicions were unfounded. The winger was exceptional for Reims last season and adjusted to his new surroundings easily, as he became crucial to Les Rouges et Blancs’ historic nineteen-game unbeaten run in the league.
Itō was a key attacking outlet for the team. His technical brilliance was a constant threat, as his balance and poise on the ball mixed with a natural two-footedness to leave his markers constantly second-guessing where his intentions lay.
Itō building on strong first season
This season has been no different for the Japanese international, and in some aspects, there has even been an improvement on the ‘impressive’ maiden season. For one, according to FBRef, the winger is now successful 52.3% of the time he dribbles past an opponent compared to 44% the season before.
At the midpoint of the season, Itō has also almost matched his assist tally for the entirety of last year, having assisted his teammates four times compared to the five he recorded in the previous campaign.
It’s no wonder that his manager Will Still has become increasingly concerned about his absence in January when the player will represent Japan at the Asian Cup. His presence will be sorely missed while representing his nation, as he has in his short time at Reims become an irreplaceable force in their attack.
