Yūta Nakayama

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Yūta Nakayama
中山 雄太
Personal information
Full name Yūta Nakayama
Date of birth (1997-02-16) 16 February 1997
Place of birth Ryūgasaki, Ibaraki, Japan
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Machida Zelvia
Number 19
Youth career
2003–2008 Kitamonma SSS
2009–2010 Atago Junior High School
2011–2014 Kashiwa Reysol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Kashiwa Reysol 76 (6)
2015 → J. League U-22 (loan) 12 (0)
2019–2022 PEC Zwolle 79 (5)
2022–2024 Huddersfield Town 37 (2)
2024– Machida Zelvia 30 (2)
International career‡
2015–2017 Japan U-20 30 (0)
2018–2021 Japan U-23 18 (4)
2019– Japan 22 (0)
Medal record
Representing  Japan
AFC U-19 Championship
Gold medal – first place2016 Bahrain
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13 September 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 January 2024 (UTC)

Yūta Nakayama (中山 雄太, Nakayama Yūta; born 16 February 1997) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder for J1 League club Machida Zelvia[1][2] and the Japan national team.

Club career

Kashiwa Reysol

Nakayama was born in Ibaraki, Japan. He made his official debut for Kashiwa Reysol in the J. League Division 1, AFC Champions League on 6 May 2015 against the Vietnam-based club Binh Duong F.C in Go Dau Stadium in Thu Dau Mot, Vietnam. He started and played the full match, receiving a yellow card in the 83rd minute. Nakayama and his club lost the match 1–0.[3]

In 2017, Nakayama was named J.League Rookie of the Year.[4]

PEC Zwolle

On 15 January 2019, Nakayama joined Eredivisie team PEC Zwolle on a three-and-a-half-year deal.[5] He made his debut for Zwolle on 31 March 2019, in a 3–0 home victory over FC Emmen.[6] He scored his first goal in the Netherlands, on 17 January 2020, in a 3–3 draw against Utrecht.[7]

Huddersfield Town

On 15 July 2022, following PEC Zwolle's relegation from the Eredivisie, Nakayama joined EFL Championship club Huddersfield Town on a two-year deal.[8] Nakayama scored his first goal in England in his third appearance for Huddersfield, a 3–1 victory over Stoke City on 13 August 2022.[9]

Machida Zelvia

On 14 August 2024, Nakayama was announced at Machida Zelvia.[10]

International career

In May 2017, Nakayama was elected Japan U-20 national team for 2017 U-20 World Cup. At this tournament, he played full time in all four matches as center back.

He made his Japan national team debut on 17 June 2019 in the 2019 Copa América game against Chile, as a starter.[11]

Nakayama was selected for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but he was forced to withdraw from the official squad list, due to an achilles injury.[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 May 2024[13][14][15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kashiwa Reysol 2015 J1 League 1000102[a]0—40
2016 J1 League 2622040——322
2017 J1 League 3014040——381
2018 J1 League 19300204[a]0—253
Total 766601106000996
J.League U-22 Selection (loan) 2015 J3 League 120————120
PEC Zwolle 2018–19 Eredivisie 4000———40
2019–20 Eredivisie 14210———152
2020–21 Eredivisie 32210———332
2021–22 Eredivisie 29131———322
Total 79551000000846
Huddersfield Town 2022–23 Championship 1420010——152
2023–24 Championship 2300010——240
Total 3720020——392
Total 19913111130600022914
  1. Appearances in AFC Champions League

International

As of match played 31 January 2024[16]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Japan 201910
202040
202140
202280
202330
202420
Total220

Honors

Club

Machida Zelvia

Individual

References

  1. "Yūta Nakayama - Profile". FIFA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  2. Yūta Nakayama at WorldFootball.net
  3. "BINH DUONG VS. KASHIWA REYSOL 1 - 0". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  4. "Jリーグ 歴代のMVP・ベストイレブン・得点王・ベストヤングプレーヤー賞". ULTRAZONE (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  5. "Yūta Nakayama nieuwe aanwinst PEC Zwolle". PEC Zwolle (in Dutch). 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  6. "Pec Zwolle vs. Emmen". FOX Sports. 31 March 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  7. "PEC Zwolle vs. Utrecht - 17 January 2020 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  8. "SIGNING: JAPAN INTERNATIONAL YŪTA NAKAYAMA JOINS!". Huddersfield Town AFC. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  9. Wobschall, Leon (13 August 2022). "Nakayama is Huddersfield Town's Japanese boy as hosts have lift-off with win". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  10. "中山雄太選手 完全移籍加入のお知らせ". www.zelvia.co.jp (in Japanese). 14 August 2024.
  11. "Japan v Chile game report". CONMEBOL. 17 June 2019.
  12. "Yūta Nakayama: Huddersfield defender to miss World Cup after being ruled out for season". BBC Sport. 3 November 2022.
  13. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 32 out of 289)
  14. Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 64 out of 289)
  15. "Japan - Y. Nakayama". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  16. Yūta Nakayama at National-Football-Teams.com
  17. "町田vs神戸の試合結果・データ(天皇杯:2025年11月22日)". J.League (in Japanese). 22 November 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.