Yukinari Sugawara

Yukinari Sugawara is a Japanese right-back who spent five seasons at AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie before joining Southampton in 2024. He holds the record for most UEFA competition appearances by an AZ player and has 21 senior caps for Japan.

Sugawara joined Nagoya Grampus at age 17 and became the club's youngest player to sign a professional contract. He moved to AZ Alkmaar on loan in June 2019, signing permanently in February 2020 on a five-year deal and going on to make 119 league appearances and 10 goals over five seasons — a spell that included an Eredivisie Player of the Month award (January 2022) and a record 47 UEFA appearances for the club.

In July 2024 he signed a four-year contract at Southampton, making 32 appearances in his first season. For 2025–26 he joined Werder Bremen on loan with an option to buy. Internationally he appeared at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and was selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup squad.