Once an Eagle, always an Eagle
Crystal Palace’s new signing Daichi Kamada has become Oliver Glasner’s newest Eagle as he heads to Selhurst Park – but this continues a long tradition of wearing Eagles that has marked out his career so far.
DaichiKamada
out on loan
Mid
Midfielder
Date of Birth
05.08.9605 August 1996
Country
Joined Team
01.07.2401 July 2024
On 1st July 2024, Crystal Palace completed the signing of Japan international Daichi Kamada on a two-year deal, subject to international clearance.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder has starred at the highest level for club and country, and joined Palace following the expiration of his contract at Serie A side Lazio.
Kamada was born in Iyo, which lies within the Ehime Prefecture of Japan on the island of Shikoku – the smallest of the country’s four main islands, housing a population of just 3.6 million people (as of 2022).
After leading the aptly named ‘Kids FC’ to glory as a youngster, Kamada’s first big break was joining Gamba Osaka as a 12-year-old. The Nerazzurri had just won the AFC Champions League and Kamada settled, but misfortune with injury saw him released just three years later.
Kamada responded to this adversity by blossoming into one of Japan’s brightest prospects, scoring more than a goal a game at high school and attracting attention from J-League big clubs. After graduating, he was signed by Sagan Tosu, and his professional career began. A season on loan in the lower divisions helped prepare Kamada for his J-League debut, and he was soon a crucial feature in the starting line-up, wearing the No. 7 shirt.
Kamada headed for Germany and Eintracht Frankfurt with a reportedly modest €2.5 million price tag to his name, and began to bed in slowly. After a move to the Belgian Professional League to gain first-team experience – where he scored 15 times in 34 league games – he returned to Frankfurt ready to make an impact.
He soon broke into the first-team, and netted his first goal in the German Cup, but he really made his name in London – North London. Facing Arsenal in the Europa League, Kamada scored twice in a 2-1 Frankfurt win at the Emirates Stadium in November 2019 to all-but-end the Unai Emery era and announce himself as one of Europe’s brightest prospects.
Injury threatened to halt his momentum, but a return in the European knockouts saw Kamada bag a hat-trick against RB Salzburg that same season. By the end of the season, he had reached double figures in all competitions.
Oliver Glasner arrived at Frankfurt for the start of the 2021/22 season, and helped Kamada repeat his London heroics by netting the winning goal against West Ham United in the semi-finals of the Europa League – his fifth and last European goal of the campaign. Frankfurt would go on to win the tournament, with Kamada playing a starring role in the final and scoring in the penalty shoot-out.
Nine goals in his first season under Glasner was followed up by 16 in the next campaign, putting yet another London club to the sword as he scored away at Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League in October 2022.
Sensational club form saw Kamada make his national team debut in March 2019 against Colombia, before scoring his first goal for the Samurai Blue against Mongolia later that year.
He made his World Cup debut for his country in Japan’s famous World Cup victory over Germany, before beating Spain in a phenomenal group-stage effort which saw them reach the knockout rounds and eliminate the four-time winners.
As Glasner left Frankfurt, so did Kamada, joining Lazio and scoring a typically crucial goal to endear himself to the supporters in a narrow victory away at Napoli in September 2023.
He went on to help Lazio to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and a seventh-place finish in Serie A, which secured a Europa League spot.
Now, Kamada's future lies in South London.
Kamada highlights
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Daichi Kamada signs for Crystal Palace