Atsuki Ito Joins Bolton Wanderers to Revive Career
Atsuki Ito has left Gent for Bolton Wanderers, becoming the first to make the Belgium-to-Championship jump this window amid growing talk that Max Dean could soon follow the same path.
The Japanese midfielder arrives in England with a reputation that still feels slightly unfulfilled in Europe. When Gent brought him in back in 2024, expectations were high. They had just lost Hyun-Seok Hong, one of their most influential midfielders, and Ito was billed as a key piece in filling that gap.
It never quite happened.
From Urawa star to Gent nearly-man
Ito had earned his move off the back of four strong seasons with Urawa Red Diamonds in the J League. From central midfield he produced 19 goals and 15 assists, a blend of end product and intelligence that made him one of the more eye-catching midfielders in Japan.
His first year in Belgium was solid rather than spectacular. He featured heavily, playing 46 games in all competitions for Gent, but the output was modest: two goals and one assist. The sense was that he was adapting, that the real version of Ito would emerge with time.
The numbers did pick up last season. In 33 appearances, he found the net five times and added three assists. The twist? His role in the team was shrinking just as his contribution improved.
Squeezed out at Gent
Under head coach Rik De Mil, Gent’s midfield hierarchy became increasingly clear. Ito’s versatility – the ability to operate deep or further forward in central areas – never quite translated into a defined spot in the XI.
De Mil leaned on Leandro Lopes, the former Cercle Brugge midfielder, as his preferred holding option. When fit, Matias Delorge partnered him in the engine room. Higher up the pitch, Abdelkahar Kadri was trusted to provide the attacking thrust from central areas.
Ito, for all his technical quality, drifted to the margins.
A fresh start in the Championship
Bolton are betting that a change of scenery will unlock the version of Ito that lit up the J League. At 26, he brings two seasons of Belgian football with him, experience that should harden him for the physical demands of the Championship.
He offers Ian Evatt and his staff something valuable: flexibility. Ito can sit deep and help build play, or step higher and threaten with late runs and shots from the edge of the box, just as he did in Japan.
He leaves Gent having never quite become the player many thought he would be in Belgium.
Bolton now hand him the chance to prove that ceiling still exists – and that the best of Atsuki Ito is still to come, this time under the floodlights of English football.
