Hayao Kawabe
川辺駿
Kawabe with Grasshopper in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (1995-09-08) 8 September 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth Asakita-ku, Hiroshima, Japan
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Standard Liège
Number 6
Youth career
2008–2013 Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2021 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 124 (9)
2015–2017 → Júbilo Iwata (loan) 91 (9)
2021 Grasshoppers 16 (4)
2022–2023 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 (0)
2022–2023 → Grasshoppers (loan) 51 (12)
2023– Standard Liège 14 (4)
International career‡
2014 Japan U17 4 (0)
2021– Japan 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:22, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

Hayao Kawabe (川辺駿, Kawabe Hayao, born 8 September 1995) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Standard Liège in the Belgian Pro League and the Japan national team.

Club career

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Kawabe joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2008, alongside other products of the club's academy.[1] After his debut in 2012, he was offered a full pro contract by Sanfrecce.[2] Despite this achievement, he found too few minutes on the pitch[3] and decided to go to Júbilo Iwata on loan.[4] In January 2018, he came back to Sanfrecce after a three-years loan to Jubilo.[5]

Grasshopper Club Zürich and Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 8 July 2021, he signed a 3-year contract with Grasshoppers in the Swiss Super League.[6] Due to delays with his work permit,[7] he only made his debut on 7 August 2021 against Lausanne-Sport, being named in the starting lineup and playing 60 minutes.[8] He scored his first goal in a 3-1 away victory over FC Sion on 31 October 2021, scoring the opener in the 32nd minute[9]

On 5 January 2022, Kawabe joined Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-and-a-half year deal, with the club intending on loaning him back to Grasshoppers in the near future.[10] He returned to Grasshoppers on 19 January 2022 and will remain until the end of the 2022–2023 season.[11] He finished the season at Grasshoppers with 34 appearances, playing every game since gaining eligibility. In his first season in Europe, he scored seven goals and supplied three assists. In the first game of the 2022–23 season, he scored both goals in a 2-1 home win against FC Lugano.[12] As a result, he was voted "SFL Player of the Round" by the viewers from among five nominees.[13]

On 25 May 2023, Grasshoppers announced that Kawabe would leave the club at the end of the season.[14]

Standard Liège

On 7 July 2023, he permanently joined Standard Liège[15] for a reported fee of £1.3 million.[16]

International career

He made his debut for Japan national football team on 25 March 2021 in a friendly against South Korea.[17] On 7 June 2021, he shot his first international goal, the final goal in a 4-1 victory over Tajikistan in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 May 2023[19][20][21]
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Japan League Emperor's Cup League Cup AFC Total
2013 Sanfrecce Hiroshima J1 League 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 0
2014 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 6 0
2015 Júbilo Iwata (loan) J2 League 33 3 1 0 – – 34 3
2016 J1 League 26 2 0 0 5 0 – 31 2
2017 32 4 3 0 3 1 – 38 5
2018 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 33 0 3 0 5 0 – 41 0
2019 34 3 1 0 2 0 4 0 41 3
2020 34 3 – 1 0 – 35 3
2021 19 3 0 0 2 0 – 21 3
Japan total 215 18 11 0 18 1 8 0 252 19
2021–22 Grasshopper Club Zürich Super League 34 7 2 0 - - 36 7
2022–23 31 9 2 0 - - 33 9
Switzerland total 65 16 4 0 0 0 0 0 69 16
Career total 267 34 15 0 18 1 8 0 321 35

International goals

No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 June 2021 Panasonic Stadium Suita, Suita, Japan  Tajikistan 4–1 4–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2016.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "ユースの川辺・宮原とプロ契約 - サンフレッチェ情報 - 中国新聞". Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  3. ^ "輝け サンフレルーキーズ＜３＞Ｍｆ川辺駿（１８）＝広島ユース | 話題 | サンフレ | 中国新聞アルファ". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  4. ^ "川辺駿選手が期限付き移籍加入".
  5. ^ "サンフレNews".
  6. ^ "GC SIGNS HAYAO KAWABE". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  7. ^ "KAWABE READY TO PLAY!". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  8. ^ "GC - LS". SFL Org. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  9. ^ "SIO - GC". SFL Org. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Wolves sign Hayao Kawabe". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. ^ "KAWABE RETURNS TO GC". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  12. ^ "SIEG ZUM SAISONSTART". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 24 July 2022.
  13. ^ "HAYAO KAWABE - SFL PLAYER OF THE 2ND ROUND". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 27 July 2022.
  14. ^ "End of Season Squad Update". Grasshopper Club Zürich. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Kawabe completes move to Belgium". Wolverhampton Wanderers. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Japanese international Hayao Kawabe set to swap Wolves for Standard Liege". getfootballnewsbene.com. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Japan v South Korea game report". ESPN. 25 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Hayao Kawabe: Wolves sign Japanese midfielder from Grasshopper Club Zurich". Sky Sports. 5 January 2022.
  19. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411529 (p. 125 out of 289)
  20. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 245 out of 289)
  21. ^ Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑", 10 February 2016, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411338 (p. 143 out of 289)

External links

Standard Liège – current squad
Categories