Exhilarating verdict on new signing as star bests Cristiano Ronaldo

Tottenham Hotspur fans can start to get excited about new arrival Kota Takai as the 20-year-old has already outshone legendary figure Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Japanese football expert Alan Gibson.

Takai is a centre-half who can also play at right-back. Born in Yokohama, Japan, he came through the Kawasaki Frontale academy before going on to make 81 appearances in their first team.

Takai’s strong performances in the Kawasaki Frontale defence have seen him earn four caps for the Japan national team so far, as well as gain admirers from around Europe.

It is Tottenham who have ultimately won the race for his services. Spurs confirmed on Tuesday that they have signed Takai for £5million, tying him down to a five-year contract.

Takai was named the J League’s best young player for the 2024 campaign and has now become the division’s record sale.

The starlet came up against five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo when Kawasaki Frontale played Al-Nassr in the Asian Champions League semi-final in April.

He kept Ronaldo quiet as Kawasaki Frontale picked up a surprise victory over Al-Nassr before losing to another Saudi club, Al-Ahli, in the final.

During an appearance on talkSPORT, Gibson was asked to provide Spurs fans with some background information on their new player. He said: “He’s very, very good. He’s very fast.

“He’s registered at 6 foot 4, 6 foot 3 and a half, which is very unusual for a Japanese player and shouldn’t be a problem in the Premier League if size matters.

“And he’s only about 80, 82, 83kg at the moment. So he might need a bit of beefing up.”

Gibson added: “I think some of the highlights you’ve probably seen were in the Asian Champions League semi-final when he played against Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran, and basically he had them in his pocket all game.

“I didn’t realise Ronaldo was playing for about 60 minutes. Seriously, I was watching it on a small screen, and I really had forgotten that Ronaldo was there.”

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Big changes at Tottenham

Takai becomes Spurs’ third signing of the summer after loan deals for Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso were made permanent.

It is the start of a new era for the Europa League winners as Thomas Frank has replaced Ange Postecoglou as head coach. Postecoglou ended Spurs’ long trophy drought but was sacked due to the club’s poor league form.

Frank has greenlit the signing of electric West Ham attacker Mohammed Kudus. Chelsea have also held talks for Kudus, but it is Spurs who are in the box seat to land him.

So far, Spurs have offered West Ham an initial £50m plus £12.5m in potential bonuses. The Irons want at least £60m up front to sell Kudus, who could help Spurs move on from Son Heung-min.

Tottenham transfer news: Mbeumo claim; Ligue 1 target

Meanwhile, there have been suggestions Spurs could thunder back into the race for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo as his switch to Manchester United has stalled.

Nice striker Evann Guessand is another player understood to be on Spurs’ radar.

Reports claim that Spurs are confident they will beat up to three Premier League clubs in the chase for Guessand.

QUIZ: Who joined Spurs first?

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