An attacking midfielder who can both score goals and provide assists at a high level, Japanese midfielder Daichi Kamada was a key player for Frankfurt before moving to Lazio in 2023 and moving his career to Italy. He has always contributed to the team as a threat to the opposition’s final third with his calm play, and can sometimes be seen making big-mouth comments out of sheer force of spirit. This article introduces Kamada’s playing style, super plays, episodes and more.
His main position is as an attacking midfielder in the top half of the park, but he is versatile enough to play basically anywhere in the front line, including second-top, WG on either flank and centre-forward. Kamada’s greatest strength is his ability to play calmly at all times. There are two factors that enable him to play with such composure.
The first is his wide field of vision. He is able to look up a lot before receiving the ball, after receiving the ball and while dribbling. From these look-ups, they are able to grasp the situation around them, such as the position and movement of their team-mates, the position of their opponents and where the space is. This broad field of vision allows him to calmly judge what he should do without panicking.
The second is skilful ball control. As mentioned above, he looks up before receiving the ball and is aware of his surroundings. From there, he is able to trap the ball with skillful ball control, and his first touch is where he wants it to be, allowing him to quickly move on to the next play.
His dribbling with a fine touch is also attractive, and he can dribble in the opposite direction, watching the opposing defender’s centre of gravity. His ability to look up makes it possible for him to keep going against the opposition, and from there he is able to select his finishing work and last passes at a high level.
Hat-trick in the first round of the Europa League final tournament against Red Bull Salzburg, 20 February 2020. Kamada, playing on the right flank, scored two goals with a breakaway from the opposing defensive line and one with a header to complete his hat-trick and make a significant contribution to the 4-1 victory.
Assist from a three-man dribble against Hertha Berlin in Bundesliga 31, 13 June 2020. Kamada started his dribble from the left of the penalty area, and with a fine touch, he got past the opposition defenders one after the other and finally made the last pass to the centre of the field. He assisted Portugal international Andre Silva’s heel-kick goal. It was a super play by Kamada, who showed great composure.
Kamada, who was born in Ehime Prefecture, started his football career at his local Kids FC, and from junior high school he played for Gamba Osaka’s junior youth team, which he could commute to from his grandmother’s house in Osaka. In high school, he was unable to move up to Gamba’s youth team and went on to Higashiyama High School in Kyoto, where his performances caught the eye of several J-League clubs and he joined Sagan Tosu in 2015, making his first league appearance on 10 May against Matsumoto Yamaga FC in J1 No. 11, in which he scored his first professional goal.
His subsequent success was recognised with a full transfer to Frankfurt in Germany on 24 June 2017 to challenge overseas. However, he struggled in his first season with the club, making only three league appearances. The following season, he moved on loan to Belgian side Sint-Troiden, which proved to be a turning point. He showed his ability by scoring a double-digit number of goals in the league with 12. He returned to Frankfurt the following season, the 2019-20 season, and has played consistently since then. One of his most notable performances was a hat-trick in the first round of the Europa League final against Salzburg on 20 February 2020. It was the first hat-trick of his career and the second Japanese player to achieve it in the EL since Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamino, and the first player in Frankfurt’s history to achieve a hat-trick in the EL.
He was first called up to Japan’s national A team in March 2019, making his A team debut against Colombia on 22 October, and scored his first goal in a World Cup second-round Asian qualifier against Mongolia on 10 October.
After leaving Frankfurt and becoming a free agent, Kamada was linked with a move to AC Milan and a number of Spanish clubs, but it was announced on 4 August 2023 that he would join Italian club Lazio.
He was forced to make few appearances until the middle of the season, but after the change of command, he was a regular and steadfast player in the final stages of the season. However, negotiations for a contract extension broke down and he moved to Crystal Palace in the summer of 2024.
On 1 June 2021, as Kamada, Minamino and Junya Ito, a Belgian winger from Henk, prepare in the locker room of the Sapporo Dome for training for the national team’s match against Japan on 3 June,
Kamada says: “Liverpool don’t have such good players, do they?”
Minamino: “Firmino is outstandingly good.”
Kamada: “He’s not that physical, is he?”
Minamino: “It’s not like that either. He plays in the Premier League, so he’s strong.”
Kamada: “I beat Haaland and Salzburg without Minamino in Europe (EL). They weren’t that strong.”
He also said. Kamada’s strong spirit and competitive spirit were seen in this scene.
Daichi Kamada, who always plays with a calm and collected style due to his wide vision and skilful ball control, has contributed to many goals and assists in the victory. His competitive spirit will see him develop further in the future, and we can expect to see him in the Champions League and other major competitions in the future. This will be his first challenge in the Premier League and we look forward to seeing him in action.