Kōki Saitō (footballer)
Japanese footballer (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kōki Saitō (斉藤 光毅, Saitō Kōki; born 10 August 2001) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers and the Japan national team.
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Saitō in 2025. | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kōki Saitō[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 10 August 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Winger | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Queens Park Rangers | |||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2013 | Inukura SC | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2018 | Yokohama FC | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Yokohama FC | 63 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2021–2025 | Lommel | 29 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | → Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 47 | (10) | |||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 39 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2025– | Queens Park Rangers | 31 | (3) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Japan U16 | 7 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Japan U17 | 8 | (9) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U18 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U19 | 5 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Japan U20 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022 | Japan U21 | 5 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2022 | Japan U23 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2025– | Japan | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:50, 22 March 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14:39, 10 October 2025 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
Club career
After impressive performances with the Japan U-17 team, Kōki Saitō debuted on 21 July 2018 in a league match against FC Gifu.[2] On his debut, Saitō even had the chance to share the field with Kazuyoshi Miura, who is 34 years his senior.[3]
In January 2021, he joined Belgian First Division B side Lommel.[4] In summer 2022 he was loaned to Eredivisie side Sparta.[5] The loan was extended for the 2023–24 season.[6]
On 13 August 2024, Saitō joined EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers on a season-long loan deal.[7] He made his debut with the club on 17 August, coming on as 67th minute substitute. In the 88th minute of the same match, he assisted Lyndon Dykes to earn 10-man QPR a draw away to Sheffield United. On 26 August 2025, he joined QPR on a permanent basis.[8]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Yokohama FC | 2018 | J2 League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | J2 League | 29 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 6 | ||
| 2020 | J1 League | 32 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||
| Total | 63 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 67 | 9 | ||||
| Lommel SK | 2020–21 | Challenger Pro League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Challenger Pro League | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | — | — | 22 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 29 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | — | — | 32 | 6 | |||||
| Sparta Rotterdam (loan) | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 30 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 | ||
| 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | — | 1[c] | 0 | 21 | 3 | |||
| Total | 50 | 10 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 53 | 10 | ||||
| Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 2024–25 | EFL Championship | 39 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 3 | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 2025–26 | EFL Championship | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 206 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 220 | 31 | ||
- Includes Emperor's Cup, Belgian Cup, KNVB Cup, FA Cup
- Includes J. League Cup, EFL Cup
- Appearances in Eredivisie European Play-offs
Honours
Individual
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: March 2023,[11]
