Shunsuke Mito has become the latest young Japanese talent to develop in the J.League before making the move to one of Europe’s top competitions. The 21-year-old Mito has officially inked a move to Sparta Rotterdam, trading his place at Albirex Niigata for a new challenge in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Mito is coming off of a terrific season that saw him win J1’s Best Young Player award. He followed up his strong 2022 campaign, in which he helped Albirex earn promotion, with a four-goal, two-assist showing in his first top flight season. He played across the attacking band for Niigata and developed into a do-it-all player, while also picking up a Konami Goal of the Month award in September.

Mito joins a Sparta side that already has Koki Saito, his Japan U-22 teammate. The two were already slated to be in the team that aims to qualify for the 2024 Olympics and now they’ll join forces at the oldest professional club in the Netherlands, where they’ll hope to push Sparta into the European places.