Kaoru Mitoma has been named Japan’s Best Player of 2023 by the Japan Pro-Footballers Association (JPFA).
The winger has also been named in the JPFA’s Best XI of the Year.
Kaoru said, “This is only the second time this award has been given, but I am really honoured to have won it for the first and second time. I feel it has great value in that it is voted for by the players.
"I am very happy that they voted for me. We are all committed to improving the quality of football in Japan including those who play in the J-League and abroad, and we are all friends on the pitch and rivals.
"I'd like to win the Europa League title at the end of the season and of course I'd like to improve our league position too, so we can qualify for the Champions League.
"Personally, I'd like to achieve more and better results in terms of numbers than last year. The Asian qualifiers for the World Cup have started and I think we will have more and more tough games but I think the current Japanese national team is a good team, competitive and has made a great start, so I want to show them that we can continue to win against the best in the world."
The JPFA Best Eleven:
- GK – Zion Suzuki – Sint-Truidense V.V. (Belgium)
- DF Ko Itakura – Borussia Mönchengladbach (Germany)
- DF Wataru Endo – Liverpool (England)
- DF Takehiro Tomiyasu – Arsenal (England)
- MF Ryotaro Ito – Sint-Truiden VV (Belgium)
- MF Takefusa Kubo – Real Sociedad (Spain)
- MF Kaoru Mitoma – Brighton & Hove Albion (England)
- FW Junya Ito – Stade Reims (France)
- FW Ayase Ueda – Feyenoord (Netherlands)
- FW Yuya Osako – Vissel Kobe (Japan)
- FW Kyogo Furuhashi – Celtic (Scotland)