Ryota Nagaki 永木 亮太

Ryota Nagaki (永木 亮太, born June 4, 1988) is a Japanese football player who plays as a midfielder for Kashima Antlers in the J1 League.

Club Career

Shonan Bellmare

Nagaki started his career with the Kawasaki Frontale youth teams, playing for both their U-15 and U-18 teams before playing for Chuo University. In his fourth year of study, he was approved as a specially designated player by the JFA in the 2010 season for Shonan Bellmare. He took the number 41 shirt and made his league debut for Shonan in July 2010, coming on as second-half substitute in 1-0 defeat to Kashima Antlers. He made nine appearances in his debut season where unfortunately Shonan finished bottom of the league and therefore relegated to the J2 League.

In his second season representing Shonan Bellmare, Nagaki was given the number 6 shirt and made 40 appearances across all competitions, however 2011 was another disappointing season for the club as they finished 14th of 20 teams in the second tier. Nagaki did score his first goal for the club in this season, scoring in the 41st minute in a 1-0 victory of Sagan Tosu. This was the first of four league goals in the 2011 season.

Nagaki continued to be a regular starter for Shonan over the next few seasons, as the club yo-yoed between the first and second tier. Things improved drastically in the 2012 season, as Nagaki made a further 43 appearances and scoring two goals for Shonan, helping them finish in 2nd place in the league and gaining automatic promotion back to the J1 League. They then finished 16th of 18 in the 2013 season and were relegated, but were then promoted again immediately in the 2014 season after scoring over 100 points and winning the J2 League by a considerable margin. Nagaki also had his highest scoring season, contributing six goals in 31 matches. Nagaki then had one more season the top-flight for Shonan in 2015, before signing for Kashima Antlers in December 2015 ahead of the 2016 season.

Kashima Antlers