| Yuta Higuchi 樋口 雄太 | |
| Fullname: | Yuta Higuchi |
| Birth Date: | 30 October 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Kamimine, Saga Prefecture, Japan[1] |
| Height: | 168 cm |
| Position: | Winger |
| Currentclub: | Kashima Antlers |
| Clubnumber: | 14 |
| Youthyears1: | –2013 |
| Youthclubs1: | Sagan Tosu |
| Collegeyears1: | 2014–2018 |
| College1: | NIFS Kanoya |
| Years1: | 2019–2021 |
| Caps1: | 66 |
| Goals1: | 7 |
| Years2: | 2022– |
| Caps2: | 65 |
| Goals2: | 5 |
| Club-Update: | 22:34, 4 January 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 22 May 2019 |
is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Kashima Antlers.[2]
Born in Kamimine, Saga Prefecture, Higuchi began his career coming up through the academy at his boyhood team Sagan Tosu. He played for their U-12, U-15 and U-18 sides, however he was not promoted to the senior squad.[3] [4]
After failing to make the Sagan Tosu squad, from 2015 to 2018 Higuchi studied at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya and played 75 games for them in the JUFA Kyushu League, the Japan College Prime Minister's Cup and the Japan Inter College Tournament.[5]
In November 2018, Higuchi signed his first professional contract with Sagan Tosu after graduating from college and would play for them in the 2019 season.[6] He made his debut in the second league game of the season, coming on as a second-half substitute for Masato Fujita in a 1–0 defeat to Vissel Kobe.[7] [8] He was named as a starter for the first time in the following month, in a 3–1 J.League Cup defeat to Vegalta Sendai.[9] In his debut season, Higuchi made eight appearances across all competitions.
The 2020 season was Higuchi's breakout year, as he went on to 28 appearances and help Tosu to an improved 13th place finish in the league. As well as providing four assists, he scored his first professional goal from a direct free-kick in a 2–1 victory over Cerezo Osaka.[10] [11] [12]
In January 2021, Higuchi was handed the number 10 shirt for the upcoming season.[13] He did not disappoint and made 42 appearances across all competitions, providing six assists and six goals and received some rave reviews for his performances.[14] [15] [16] Sagan Tosu finished the season in 7th place in the J1 League, the highest placed finish in their history.[17] At the end of his third season, Higuchi had scored eight goals in 78 appearances for the club.
In December 2021, he transferred to Kashima Antlers.[18] Higuchi enjoyed a strong first season representing Kashima, playing 42 games for the club across all competitions and finishing with the 8 league assists, the second highest amount for the season.[19] He finished the season with 13 assists in total.
Higuchi continued to be a key player for Kashima in his second season with the club, starting most of their games. At the beginning of August 2023, he scored one and assisted two goals in a 3–0 victory over Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and following a string of other exceptional performances he was awarded the J.League Monthly MVP award.[20]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Japan | League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||||
| Sagan Tosu | 2019 | J1 League | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | J1 League | 28 | 1 | – | – | – | 28 | 1 | |||||
| 2021 | J1 League | 37 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 42 | 7 | |||
| Total | 66 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 8 | |||
| Kashima Antlers | 2022 | J1 League | 32 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | – | 42 | 3 | ||
| 2023 | J1 League | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 37 | 3 | |||
| Total | 65 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 6 | |||
| Career total | 131 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 157 | 12 | |||
In December 2020, Higuchi announced his marriage.[23] In August 2021, his wife gave birth to their first child, a boy.[24]