Kaoru Mitoma is gradually recapturing the sparkle that made him such a big hit in his first Premier League season with Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022-23.
The Japanese left-winger’s all-round performance in Saturday’s 2-1 win at Bournemouth indicated that he is reaching peak form again after a back injury stunted his progress last season.
Mitoma shone in and out of possession for Fabian Hurzeler’s side at the Vitality Stadium. He did his best work in the opening 45 minutes tracking back towards his own goal to help preserve the fourth-minute lead provided by Joao Pedro.
Disciplined in repelling the adventurous instincts of Bournemouth captain and right-back Adam Smith, Mitoma also demonstrated that he is stronger in the air than he gets credit for with a leap inside his own six-yard box to clear a dangerous cross.
Four minutes into the second half, Mitoma showed the kind of attacking skills that have forged his lofty reputation as a menace to opposing defences with his speed and dribbling ability. Perfectly anticipating a delightful through ball by Joao Pedro, he blind-sided Smith to double the lead with a clinical finish.
It was precisely the type of end product Hurzeler is seeking more of from one of his key assets, as Mitoma ended a drought dating back to scoring the first goal of the German’s reign 25 minutes into a 3-0 victory at Everton on the opening day of the season in August.
Hurzeler, speaking before the 2-1 win against Manchester City in Brighton’s last home game, said: “It is always the responsibility of the player to finish the actions. He has a lot of good actions, but then it is about finishing the actions the right way.
“Being active at the second post, having a clear shot in the corner, having a clear finish. And then we try to help him. You always can increase the percentage of scoring if you have more numbers of players in the opponents’ box and we try to work on this.
“He is looking good, he is in good shape, but it is about the detail for me. Having the right touch, the right shot, the right cross. Be in the right position. One yard makes a difference, one second makes a difference. These are the details where we have to work with him and try to help him and then it is the responsibility of the player to do it in the game.”
Mitoma set a high bar two seasons ago by scoring 10 goals and registering eight assists across 41 appearances in all competitions. Seven Premier League goals in that 2022-23 campaign created a new record for a Japanese player in a single season, overtaking six goals scored by Shinji Kagawa for Manchester United (2012-13) and Shinji Okazaki for Leicester City (2017-18).
Mitoma’s output was instrumental in Brighton qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history by finishing sixth, but he was absurdly busy for club and country. He amassed a total of 2,914 minutes playing time in the three domestic competitions, plus an additional 528 minutes for Japan, including the mid-season World Cup in Qatar, when they reached the round of 16.
It all added up to 51 appearances, including 35 starts. At club level, in terms of match minutes, Mitoma played the equivalent of nearly 13 more full games compared to the previous year spent on loan at Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.
There was no respite for Mitoma in the early part of 2023-24. He started 20 of Brighton’s first 25 matches and came off the bench in four others, combined again with international duty. The wear and tear eventually caught up with him.
He ended up missing half of the 38 Premier League matches last season through ankle and back injuries, as well as international duty in the winter’s Asian Cup tournament in Qatar. Mitoma contributed three goals and four assists in 19 league appearances before a back problem, requiring rest rather than surgery, ruled him out from February onwards.
De Zerbi’s team faded without him, losing 4-1 on aggregate to Roma in the last 16 of the Europa League and dropping down the Premier League table to finish 11th. The recovery process began in earnest for Mitoma during the off season with gym sessions in his homeland alongside Japan team-mate and Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate.
It gathered pace with Mitoma’s star billing for Brighton’s pre-season tour of Japan in late July. Nothing compares to competitive action and Mitoma is just as important to Hurzeler as he was to De Zerbi. The 27-year-old made his 11th league start out of 12 at Bournemouth, but Hurzeler is wary of the danger of burnout.
Mitoma started on the bench in the first game following October’s international break, coming on for the last half-hour of a 1-0 victory at Newcastle having played for a total of 177 minutes across two World Cup qualifiers for Japan.
National team manager Hajime Moriyasu left Mitoma out of the starting line-up for last week’s 3-1 win in China, with Japan’s place in the 2026 finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico already virtually assured. That gave Hurzeler the green light to start him at Bournemouth.
Hurzeler said after the match: “He talked to the coach before and it was a decision they made together. I didn’t feel that he was disappointed, more the opposite.
“He played only 25 minutes in the second game for Japan (against China), so he was in a different condition when he came back. That was why we made the decision to let him start.
“It is so important to take care of the health of the players, because we have a lot of games. They play here, they try to do their best for their national teams.”
There will be no Asian Cup distraction mid-season for Mitoma this time. Japan do not resume their World Cup qualifying campaign until March, with home fixtures against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
He will benefit from an intuitive understanding with both the fit-again Joao Pedro and Pervis Estupinan, a pivotal partner behind him at left-back in that fruitful 2022-23 campaign before the Ecuador international encountered his own injury issues last season.
Mitoma contributed 10 goals and eight assists over 32 league appearances from October 2022 up until scoring twice at Bournemouth in September 2023. Another goal at Bournemouth could be the launchpad for another period rich in productivity as he edges his way back to peak condition.
(Top photo: Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
