Ko Itakura (板倉 滉, Itakura Ko, born 27 January 1997) is a Japanese footballer who plays as center-back or defensive midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04, on loan from Manchester City. He also represents the Japan national team.
Club Career
Born in Yokohama, Ko Itakura joined J1 League club Kawasaki Frontale in 2015, with which he won the 2017 Japanese championship.
He was loaned to Vegalta Sendai in 2018.
In January 2019, he joined Premier League club Manchester City and was immediately loaned to Eredivisie club Groningen, until the summer of 2020. On 24 July 2020, his stay with Groningen was extended with one more year after Groningen and Manchester City agreed.
On 19 August 2021, Itakura signed a season-long loan deal with 2. Bundesliga club Schalke 04 with an option to make the move permanent for €4 million.
International Career
In May 2017, Itakura was called up to the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 U-20 World Cup. At this tournament, he played 2 matches as defensive midfielder.
He was selected for the senior Japan national football team for 2019 Copa America and made his debut on 20 June 2019 in the game against Uruguay, as a starter.
Monaco 
Stade Brestois 29 
Bordeaux 
Nimes 
Bayern Munich 
FC Augsburg 
Paris Saint Germain 
Toulouse 
CSKA Moscow 
FC Rostov 
Leicester 
Chelsea 
Valencia 
Betis 
Dynamo Kyiv 
Chornomorets Odesa 
Verona 
Inter 
Bayer Leverkusen 
FC Heidenheim 
Borussia Dortmund 
SC Freiburg 
VFL Wolfsburg 
Union Berlin 
Arsenal 
Nottingham Forest 
Everton 
Brentford 
Spartak Moscow 
Lokomotiv Moscow 
Rangers 
Dundee Utd 
Atletico Madrid 
Alaves 
Lens 
Marseille 
Ingulets Petrove 
Shakhtar Donetsk 
AC Milan 
Juventus 
ST Malo 
Manchester City 
Tottenham 
Eintracht Frankfurt 
Werder Bremen 
Girona 
Espanyol 
Feyenoord 
Heerenveen 
ST Etienne 
Montpellier 
Grenoble Foot 38 
Heart Of Midlothian 
Celtic 
Reims 
Lyon 
PSV 
Groningen