There will also be plenty at Kawasaki Frontale in Japan keeping an eye on events at the Amex.
They always do anyway. Mitoma’s following is well known.
But the visit of Leeds potentially saw him take on his childhood friend and former club-mate Ao Tanaka.
Promotion with Leeds last season sent Tanaka into the top flight and set up the chance of a Premier League meeting with his best mate.
The pair came through the ranks at Frontale and, famously, combined for a goal for Japan against Spain at the 2022 World Cup.
“I knew you would be there,” Mitoma said afterwards.
They should know a bit about each other’s games.
They have played and trained with each other since school days in Saginuma, on Tokyo’s southern fringes heading out towards Yokohama.
They would travel across the vast urban jungle of that area to Kawasaki.
That would be by regional train or by bike, depending who you talk to. Maybe they did a bit of both, depending on the weather.
Their destination would be the Fujitsu Stadium, which is the academy venue on the opposite side of Kawasaki to the main Todoroki venue.
Of course Kawasaki was already famous for its motorbikes.
Naoki Kanda at Kawasaki FrontaleNaoki Kanda of Kawasaki Frontale (Image: Newsquest)
“The bikes don’t actually come from here – it’s just a name,” Naoki Kanda, a member of the Frontale groundstaff, told me on the train ride from one stadium to the other.
Todoroki is a spacious stadium with running track around the pitch.
There are pictures of Mitoma and Tanaka celebrating with team-mates in a small collection of memorabilia.
The facilities both for spectators and players are basic but clean and functional and there is a baseball stadium across the road.
Fujitsu Stadium is a few stops away on the train and is an impressive multi-sports venue – with plenty of space and an artificial pitch overlooked by a small stand along each touchline.
When I visited, youngsters were either training or taking a break in the shade as July temperatures and humidity levels soared.
This is where the teenage Mitoma and Tanaka honed their skills.
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Frontale fan Kenzo Shiozake (above) said: “I know them from when they were playing the under-18s team.
“I used to watch the games in 2014 or 15 and I saw them then when they played in the first team.
“Especially Tanaka, he was so thin, with no muscles.
“I was like, ‘Is he okay?’ but he really grew up.
“Mitoma couldn’t play when he first joined the top team.
“But then one wing player got injured and Mitoma got an opportunity to play and he just took over from that player.
Celebration time for Mitoma (Image: Kawasaki Frontale)
“I think they are not quite the same age but I think it helped them a lot being together.
“For sure, Frontale supporters watch them with interest.”
Mitoma famously put his professional career on hold to play university football at Tsukuba.
A fine performance for the university against Frontale helped confirm him as one to watch.
Kanda said: “It was in the Emperors Cup and he was the best player in that game.
“He is very popular. When he came to Frontale he scored a lot.
“I think he is one of the best players in Japan.
“Of course the fans follow them. They watch DAZN!
“Ao is almost the same popularity as Kaoru in Japan.
“Of course they helped each other. Even now in England, they meet a lot.
“I think a lot of Japanese fans from Kawasaki will watch.”
His senior colleague Ikuro Tanaka added: “Mitoma was a good boy but he was shy. Very good football brain.”
Mitoma and Tanaka have been followed to England by Kawasaki defender Kota Takai, who made the move to Spurs last summer.
So who is next? The word around Kawasaki, certainly last summer, was that Asahi Sasaki could be one to watch.
Like Mitoma, Sasaki has come through the university route and is not exactly a raw youngster at 25.
Said: “He can play as full-back or centre-back,
“During his university days he was a defensive midfielder like Endo.”
The trail has been well and truly blazed by Mitoma and Tanaka.