Kakeru Funaki

Left Back - Albirex Niigata
20 Jan 2027
Wednesday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 3 Transfers Relations Events 81 Awards Matches History

Marked for Kakeru Funaki

18 Edition

The Albirex Niigata Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad30 Nov 2026

Yamato Wakatsuki breaks a bone — 41 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad30 Nov 2026

Jason Geria: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Albirex Niigata have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market30 Nov 2026

Albirex Niigata may not be able to give Danilo Gomes what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Danilo Gomes wants continental football; whether Albirex Niigata can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

In brief

Back issues
8 Edition

The Albirex Niigata Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad21 Sep 2026

Daisuke Yoshimitsu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albirex Niigata this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad21 Sep 2026

The manager makes an example of Kakeru Funaki

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings21 Sep 2026

Motoki Ohara runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings21 Sep 2026

The afternoon belonged to Chihiro Konagaya

A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad21 Sep 2026

Yuji Ono falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match19 Sep 2026

Honours even between Albirex Niigata and Omiya Ardija

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

2 Edition

The Albirex Niigata Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad10 Aug 2026

A one-man rearguard from Daisuke Yoshimitsu

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

Jin Okumura runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Tempers go at Albirex Niigata

Daisuke Yoshimitsu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match8 Aug 2026

Albirex Niigata get the job done against Yokohama F. Marinos

A 1‑0 win over Yokohama F. Marinos, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Market10 Aug 2026

Yushin Otake is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Albirex Niigata has been clear about where Yushin Otake stands, which is more than many ever get.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

A defender's afternoon for Taiki Arai

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Market10 Aug 2026

Albirex Niigata and Jin Okumura are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Market10 Aug 2026

48 months and counting on Kakeru Funaki

Still no offer on the table, and Kakeru Funaki’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

A defender's afternoon for Yuji Hoshi

Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief