Prolific Feyenoord and Japan striker Ayase Ueda has been linked with a potential transfer to Everton
Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda
Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda
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Everton have been linked with a move for Ayase Ueda but what could the Feyenoord striker potentially bring to their side?
Goals is the simple answer for Blues given that the Japan international has been prolific at every level he’s played at throughout his career. Udea was born in the city of Mito – famous for its fermented soybeans and Kairaku-en, one of Japan’s three great gardens – on August 28, 1998, the day before Les Ferdinand scored one of his 16 career goals against Everton to give Christian Gross’ Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win at Goodison Park over Walter Smith’s side.
He made his senior debut for Kashima Antlers as an 89th minute substitute of their 1-1 J1 League game at Urawa Red Diamonds on July 31, 2019 and would go on to score 47 times in 103 matches. Ueda made his big move to Europe in 2022, plundering 23 goals in 42 matches during a single season in Belgium with Cercle Brugge before joining Feyenoord for €8million.
While he failed to hit double figures during his first two seasons in the Netherlands with goal returns of five and nine, his 26 goals so far this term is a career high. In addition, he has netted 16 times in 38 internationals for his country, spearheading their attack for the 1-0 friendly win over England at Wembley on March 31, where he went head-to-head against Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
A report from TEAMtalk claims Everton have added Ueda to their striker shortlist for the summer but they face competition for his signature from a trio of fellow Premier League clubs, with Brighton & Hove Albion, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur also tracking him closely.
Just what kind of player is Ueda? Comparisonator’s player profile sees him very much as a ‘box striker’ (like Erling Haaland) with a score of 9.5 out of 10 compared to 7.6 for target man; 6.4 for mobile striker; 5.9 for false nine; and 4.7 for pressing forward.
In terms of current Premier League players, there is nobody quite like Ueda, though, given that Nottingham Forest’s former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi is deemed the closest match at just 39%. For closer equivalents from the rest of Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues, in France there is Bamba Dieng of Lorient (96%) and Esteban Lepaul of Rennes (92%); in Italy, Thijs Dallinga of Bologna (91%); in Germany, Dzenan Pejcinovic of Wolfsburg (79%); and in Spain, Orri Oskarsson of Real Sociedad (75%).
We can also use Comparisonator’s Virtual Transfer tool to correlate Ueda’s statistics from the Eredivisie this season against Premier League players in his positions. In terms of total distance, only Brentford’s Igor Thiago, who netted five goals in two games against the Blues in 2025/26, covers more ground per 90 minutes (9.745km) than Ueda’s 9.533km.
When it comes to high acceleration counts (instances of covering more than three metres a second), again, only Thiago (36.41) can top Ueda’s 34.93. For high-speed run counts, (movements of between 20-25km/h), again there is just one player with more than Ueda on 42.11 and that is Taty Castellanos of West Ham United on 46.5.
While he’s clearly currently operating in a weaker competition, Ueda’s goals per 90 minutes average of 0.86 is even better than Premier League leader Haaland of Manchester City (0.75). What could be notable for Evertonians who like a centre-forward with aerial prowess is that the 6ft player has scored 0.31 of his goals with his head, which is more than twice as many in proportion as Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta (0.15), who tops the Premier League in this category.
Ayase Ueda's goals per 90 minutes this season for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie compared to Premier League players in his position
Ayase Ueda's goals per 90 minutes this season for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie compared to Premier League players in his position
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Ueda also has a higher level of playing in scoring attacks per 90 minutes (1.07) than Haaland (1.03), the only Premier League figure above 1 and he scores 0.83 for opportunities converted per 90 minutes, again topping Haaland on 0.66 who is best in the English top flight.
Ueda’s 2.83 shots per 90 minutes is second only to Haaland on 2.83, but he’s actually more efficient at testing the keeper as his 1.55 shots on target is only edged out by Haaland’s 1.56. When it comes to expected goals (xG), Ueda (0.52) would rank third in the Premier League behind Haaland (0.77) and Thiago (0.58) with Leeds United’s former Everton man Dominic Calvert-Lewin curiously next up on 0.51.
Ueda offers a tantalising proposition for Everton manager David Moyes and while he knows where the back of the net is and is good in the air, there are question marks over whether he could match the physicality of either Beto or even Thierno Barry. At just seven months younger than the former, who is set to enter the final 12 months of his current contract this summer, there will also be concerns over whether a player who will turn 28 soon after the 2026/27 season kicks off, is already at the peak of his powers and whether he has time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League.
Everton’s transfer guru Nick Hammond, who followed chief executive Angus Kinnear from Leeds United last summer, is an admirer of Japanese players, though, having taken Ao Tanaka to Elland Road from Fortuna Dusseldorf and snapped up Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe for Celtic.
*Comparisonator is a football data comparison tool from 271 professional leagues around the world which compares players and clubs by utilising an industry leading 378 different parameters. Click here for more details.