Hiroki Itō (footballer, born 1999)

About

Hiroki Ito (伊藤 洋輝, Itō Hiroki; born 12 May 1999) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back, left-back and defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Japan national team.

After growing through Júbilo Iwata youth ranks, Hiroki Ito was promoted to the first team in 2018. He debuted as a pro in March 2018 in J. League Cup, and would soon make his first appearance in J1 League in August 2018. In 2019, he was loaned out to Nagoya Grampus, where he made nine appearances in all competitions.

In June 2021, Ito joined Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart on loan, and was assigned to play for the second team in the Regionalliga Südwest. However, he was instantly promoted to the first team by coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, and started his first match in a 6–0 away win against BFC Dynamo in the DFB-Pokal. Afterwards that year, on 26 November, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 2–1 win over Mainz. On 20 May 2022, VfB Stuttgart exercised a purchase option which tied Ito to the club with a contract until June 2025.
In August 2023, he extended his contract with Stuttgart until June 2027. In the 2023–24 season…