Executive Summary
33%
Clubs' average hit rate
In total we identified 202 real signings by the clubs of J1 League in the 2024 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 198 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 4 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.
Club Ranking
| Club | League position | Signings | Evaluated | Successful | Fair | Unsuccessful | Hit rate % | SigningLab* |
|---|
| 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 2º | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 75% | 75% |
| 2 | FC Tokyo | 7º | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 60% | 80% |
| 3 | Gamba Osaka | 4º | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 50% | 62% |
| 4 | Shonan Bellmare | 15º | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50% | 100% |
| 5 | Machida Zelvia | 3º | 29 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 43% | 79% |
| 6 | Cerezo Osaka | 10º | 8 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 43% | 100% |
| 7 | Nagoya Grampus | 11º | 11 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 41% | 91% |
| 8 | Tokyo Verdy | 6º | 18 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 39% | 83% |
| 9 | Vissel Kobe | 1º | 8 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 36% | 100% |
| 10 | Sagan Tosu | 20º | 14 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 32% | 93% |
| 11 | Albirex Niigata | 16º | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 29% | 71% |
| 12 | Kashima | 5º | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 29% | 71% |
| 13 | Kashiwa Reysol | 17º | 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 29% | 100% |
| 14 | Kyoto Sanga | 14º | 12 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 25% | 83% |
| 15 | Urawa | 13º | 15 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 23% | 93% |
| 16 | Consadole Sapporo | 19º | 12 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 21% | 92% |
| 17 | Avispa Fukuoka | 12º | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 17% | 100% |
| 18 | Kawasaki Frontale | 8º | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8% | 100% |
| 19 | Jubilo Iwata | 18º | 17 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 6% | 94% |
| 20 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 9º | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0% | 100% |
* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.
The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).
Season Highlights
The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).
| Player | Club | Pos | Min | G+A | Avg rating | Rating | SigningLab |
|---|
| Lucas Fernandes | Cerezo Osaka | M | 2793 | 3+10 | 7.54 | Excellent |
| Rafael Papagaio | Kyoto Sanga | F | 1138 | 11+1 | 7.51 | Excellent |
| Naoto Arai | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | D | 1975 | 6+4 | 7.16 | Excellent |
| Ryoma Watanabe | Urawa | M | 3386 | 6+5 | 7.19 | Excellent |
| Kimito Nono | Kashima | D | 2713 | 9+0 | 7.09 | Excellent |
| Hokuto Shimoda | Machida Zelvia | M | 1619 | 5+2 | 6.53 | Excellent |
| Shinnosuke Nakatani | Gamba Osaka | D | 3420 | 4+0 | 7.16 | Excellent |
| Samuel Gustafson | Urawa | M | 2042 | 2+3 | 7.03 | Excellent |
| Tomoya Miki | Tokyo Verdy | M | 2485 | 3+2 | 7.08 | Excellent |
| Keita Endo | FC Tokyo | M | 1512 | 5+3 | 6.66 | Excellent |
Methodology
Club assessment — the universe of signings
The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.
Player Impact Score (PIS)
Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.
Outcome classification
The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.
A note on scope
This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.
Appendix — Signings by club
* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.
Albirex Niigata (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Eiji Miyamoto | 26 | 1730 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Motoki Hasegawa | 33 | 1676 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Yuji Ono | 24 | 1139 | 4 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Kento Hashimoto | 9 | 624 | 0 | 2 | Good |
| Hayato Inamura | 14 | 572 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Aozora Ishiyama | 10 | 22 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Daisuke Yoshimitsu | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Avispa Fukuoka (6 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Yuto Iwasaki | 38 | 2907 | 1 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Daiki Matsuoka | 37 | 2413 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Shahab Zahedi | 32 | 1426 | 9 | 2 | Fair |
| Nassim Ben Khalifa | 2 | 67 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Daiki Sakata | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Rick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Cerezo Osaka (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Shunta Tanaka | 37 | 3288 | 3 | 4 | Excellent |
| Lucas Fernandes | 35 | 2793 | 3 | 10 | Excellent |
| Kyohei Noborizato | 22 | 1473 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Vitor Bueno | 24 | 891 | 3 | 4 | Fair |
| Ryogo Yamasaki | 14 | 209 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Yuichi Hirano | 10 | 198 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Justin Hubner * | 8 | 90 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Tatsuya Yamashita | 7 | 25 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Consadole Sapporo (12 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Musashi Suzuki | 32 | 2490 | 6 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Tomoki Kondo | 29 | 2216 | 4 | 3 | Fair |
| Ryu Takao | 28 | 1221 | 0 | 4 | Fair |
| Leo Osaki | 17 | 1163 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Min-kyu Park | 14 | 1156 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Tatsuya Hasegawa | 22 | 642 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Rei Ieizumi | 15 | 513 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Haruto Shirai | 11 | 226 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jordi Sánchez | 7 | 156 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Amadou Bakayoko | 7 | 100 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yamato Okada | 7 | 20 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Francis Cann | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
FC Tokyo (5 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Takahiro Ko | 35 | 2881 | 3 | 2 | Good |
| Ryotaro Araki | 29 | 1946 | 7 | 4 | Fair |
| Keita Endo | 28 | 1512 | 5 | 3 | Excellent |
| Tsuyoshi Ogashiwa | 12 | 316 | 2 | 0 | Fair |
| Everton Galdino | 5 | 194 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Gamba Osaka (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Shinnosuke Nakatani | 38 | 3420 | 4 | 0 | Excellent |
| Tokuma Suzuki | 38 | 3037 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Welton | 32 | 2394 | 4 | 6 | Good |
| Ryoya Yamashita | 30 | 1683 | 1 | 5 | Good |
| Kota Yamada | 24 | 1417 | 4 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Takeru Kishimoto | 27 | 995 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Riku Matsuda | 14 | 661 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Daichi Hayashi | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Jubilo Iwata (17 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Eiji Kawashima | 32 | 2851 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Léo Gomes | 33 | 2108 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Matheus Peixoto | 36 | 2060 | 7 | 2 | Fair |
| Kaito Suzuki | 33 | 1779 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Rei Hirakawa | 28 | 1560 | 0 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Shun Nakamura | 16 | 1018 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Shunsuke Nishikubo | 38 | 1002 | 1 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Hassan Hilo | 10 | 786 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jordy Croux | 15 | 779 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Keita Takahata | 12 | 666 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Ryo Watanabe | 11 | 650 | 2 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Bruno José | 23 | 557 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kotaro Fujikawa | 16 | 358 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Tsuboi | 12 | 180 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Mitsuki Sugimoto | 11 | 126 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Masatoshi Ishida | 6 | 92 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Weverton de Souza Santos | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Kashima (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kimito Nono | 31 | 2713 | 9 | 0 | Excellent |
| Aleksandar Čavrić | 25 | 1244 | 7 | 3 | Good |
| Guilherme Parede | 13 | 224 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Talles Brener | 10 | 177 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Radomir Milosavljević | 11 | 110 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kyosuke Tagawa | 3 | 89 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuji Kajikawa | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Kashiwa Reysol (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Eiji Shirai | 38 | 2686 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Kosuke Kinoshita | 38 | 1849 | 9 | 0 | Fair |
| Takuya Shimamura | 30 | 990 | 3 | 3 | Below expectations |
| Kohei Tezuka | 12 | 909 | 0 | 2 | Good |
| Hiroki Noda | 10 | 418 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuki Kakita | 14 | 350 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Haruki Saruta | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| T. Kuwata * | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
Kawasaki Frontale (7 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| So Kawahara | 10 | 535 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Zé Ricardo | 16 | 419 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hinata Yamauchi | 17 | 399 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| César Haydar | 5 | 180 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuki Hayasaka | 7 | 90 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Patrick Verhon * | 2 | 21 | 0 | 0 | Investment |
| Louis Yamaguchi | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Kyoto Sanga (12 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Yuta Miyamoto | 34 | 2224 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Yoshinori Suzuki | 28 | 2142 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Marco Túlio | 31 | 1961 | 3 | 6 | Good |
| Rafael Papagaio | 15 | 1138 | 11 | 1 | Excellent |
| Toichi Suzuki | 19 | 517 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Takuji Yonemoto | 13 | 432 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Keita Matsuda | 11 | 221 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Murilo | 11 | 88 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Koki Tsukagawa | 3 | 78 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Lucas Oliveira | 11 | 57 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kentaro Kakoi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| A. Fantini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Machida Zelvia (29 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kosei Tani | 37 | 3311 | 0 | 0 | Excellent |
| Kotaro Hayashi | 37 | 2855 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Ibrahim Dresevic | 32 | 2725 | 3 | 1 | Good |
| Gen Shoji | 35 | 2669 | 1 | 1 | Good |
| Se-hun Oh | 33 | 2241 | 8 | 2 | Good |
| Keiya Sento | 36 | 2214 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Shota Fujio | 31 | 2157 | 10 | 1 | Fair |
| Kazuki Fujimoto | 38 | 1835 | 3 | 3 | Below expectations |
| Hokuto Shimoda | 31 | 1619 | 5 | 2 | Excellent |
| Yu Hirakawa | 18 | 1565 | 2 | 6 | Good |
| Kai Shibato | 23 | 1453 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Junya Suzuki | 26 | 1447 | 1 | 4 | Good |
| Jang Min-gyu | 16 | 1439 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Sang-Ho Na | 27 | 1315 | 3 | 2 | Fair |
| Ryohei Shirasaki | 14 | 1164 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Erik | 26 | 904 | 3 | 1 | Fair |
| Daiki Sugioka | 12 | 880 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Mitchell Duke | 33 | 835 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Yuki Soma | 11 | 755 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Byron Vásquez | 13 | 709 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Yuta Nakayama | 6 | 332 | 1 | 0 | Good |
| Yuki Nakashima | 8 | 206 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Takuya Yasui | 11 | 116 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Daigo Takahashi | 3 | 106 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Masayuki Okuyama | 5 | 58 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Kosei Ashibe | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Takaya Numata | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yoshiaki Arai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Louis Yamaguchi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Nagoya Grampus (11 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kennedy Mikuni | 35 | 3074 | 2 | 1 | Good |
| Keiya Shiihashi | 35 | 2470 | 1 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Chang-rae Ha | 32 | 1767 | 3 | 0 | Excellent |
| Katsuhiro Nakayama | 35 | 1757 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Yamagishi | 23 | 1485 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Patric | 35 | 1182 | 5 | 1 | Fair |
| Ryosuke Yamanaka | 25 | 929 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Shuhei Tokumoto | 10 | 717 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Taichi Kikuchi | 13 | 526 | 1 | 3 | Fair |
| Masahito Ono | 5 | 150 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shion Inoue | 5 | 88 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Sagan Tosu (14 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Marcelo Ryan | 30 | 2173 | 14 | 2 | Good |
| Tae-hyeon Kim | 29 | 2126 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Seiji Kimura | 27 | 2015 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Hikaru Nakahara | 22 | 1344 | 2 | 3 | Below expectations |
| Yusuke Maruhashi | 23 | 1065 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Katsunori Ueebisu | 22 | 981 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Vykintas Slivka | 14 | 902 | 2 | 1 | Fair |
| Kento Nishiya | 13 | 786 | 0 | 2 | Fair |
| Tojiro Kubo | 7 | 459 | 2 | 0 | Good |
| Yuta Imazu | 10 | 426 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Vinicius Araujo | 23 | 418 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Hiroshi Kiyotake | 10 | 232 | 1 | 1 | Fair |
| Tsubasa Terayama | 8 | 223 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Jajá | 8 | 124 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (4 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Naoto Arai | 32 | 1975 | 6 | 4 | Excellent |
| Yuki Ohashi | 22 | 1880 | 10 | 4 | Good |
| Tolgay Arslan | 14 | 814 | 8 | 0 | Excellent |
| Gonçalo Paciência | 9 | 368 | 2 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Shonan Bellmare (5 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Yuto Suzuki | 37 | 3322 | 2 | 2 | Good |
| Lukian | 31 | 2312 | 11 | 2 | Good |
| Naoto Kamifukumoto | 14 | 990 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Arata Yoshida | 6 | 293 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Luiz Phellype | 7 | 49 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Tokyo Verdy (18 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Matheus Vidotto | 38 | 3420 | 0 | 1 | Good |
| Yudai Kimura | 36 | 2773 | 10 | 2 | Fair |
| Hijiri Onaga | 38 | 2672 | 4 | 0 | Fair |
| Kosuke Saito | 38 | 2485 | 1 | 5 | Fair |
| Tomoya Miki | 37 | 2485 | 3 | 2 | Excellent |
| Kazuya Miyahara | 31 | 2426 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Naoki Hayashi | 33 | 2321 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Kaito Chida | 29 | 2168 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Hiroto Yamami | 36 | 1514 | 7 | 6 | Good |
| Fuki Yamada | 21 | 1199 | 5 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Goki Yamada | 25 | 627 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuta Matsumura | 13 | 400 | 0 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Yutaro Hakamata | 7 | 286 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Tiago Alves | 14 | 239 | 1 | 0 | Fair |
| Kohei Yamakoshi | 8 | 206 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Keito Kawamura | 2 | 42 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Tomohiro Taira | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yuya Nagasawa | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Urawa (15 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Ryoma Watanabe | 38 | 3386 | 6 | 5 | Excellent |
| Hirokazu Ishihara | 33 | 2364 | 1 | 1 | Below expectations |
| Thiago Santana | 36 | 2127 | 12 | 3 | Fair |
| Samuel Gustafson | 29 | 2042 | 2 | 3 | Excellent |
| Naoki Maeda | 24 | 1348 | 2 | 2 | Below expectations |
| Rikito Inoue | 21 | 1345 | 0 | 0 | Fair |
| Yota Sato | 37 | 1216 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Genki Haraguchi | 10 | 461 | 1 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yoichi Naganuma | 13 | 427 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Ola Solbakken | 5 | 326 | 0 | 1 | Did not deliver |
| Rio Nitta | 10 | 236 | 1 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Ayumi Niekawa | 38 | 194 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shion Homma | 4 | 57 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Yota Horiuchi | 8 | 45 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Shun Yoshida | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Vissel Kobe (8 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Taisei Miyashiro | 32 | 2087 | 11 | 1 | Good |
| Yosuke Ideguchi | 35 | 1829 | 0 | 1 | Fair |
| Rikuto Hirose | 29 | 1273 | 2 | 4 | Good |
| Yuya Kuwasaki | 18 | 369 | 0 | 0 | Below expectations |
| Tetsushi Yamakawa * | 15 | 197 | 2 | 0 | Investment |
| Shota Arai | 23 | 101 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Takuya Iwanami | 14 | 91 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
| Powell Obinna Obi | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |
Yokohama F. Marinos (1 signings)
| Player | Matches | Minutes | Goals | Assists | Rating |
|---|
| Kazuya Yamamura | 4 | 117 | 0 | 0 | Did not deliver |