Takai Yuki Tottenham’s first experience: Translation and accompanying + tired grass, the strength of the Premier League has begun to show its momentum!

After a week of waiting, Tottenham's new face this summer. 20-year-old Japanese international central defender Yukita Takai finally got a work permit this week and officially stepped onto the turf of the Hottersper Road training base in Enfield. The young defender, who joined from Kawasaki striker for £5 million, signed a long-term contract with Tottenham Hotspur until 2030. His training scenes in the first few days opened the interesting prelude to his debut in the Premier League.

Language is the first challenge facing Yukio Takai. As such, former football expert Yuo Okada revealed to Football London that the new J League young player of the year's English is "still improving". The video clip released by the training base confirms this: when Takai Yukita was conducting physical and blood tests in the gym, a translator was clearly seen in the background, and the sound of Japanese communication can often be heard outside the camera. However, the young central defender seemed to be able to understand some of the instructions, and he also tried to communicate in simple English at the beginning and end of the video, showing that he was actively conquering language barriers.

In the gym, Yukio Takai is not fighting alone. Another new face, Tom Perryman, 45-year-old physical coach who just joined Tottenham from Brentford with coach Thomas Frank, provided him with careful guidance. The picture captures Perryman using his mobile phone to show Yukio Takai's action requirements several times, which is likely to be using translation software to communicate more clearly.

When training is transferred to the green field under the sun, the atmosphere becomes relaxed. During the warm-up session of the players jogging in a row, Mickey Vandervin mischievously grabbed the back of his teammate Destini Udorge's training shirt, and the scene was quite interesting. Takai-Tao-Ta, who is 1.90 meters tall, looks quite prominent in the crowd, especially when jogging next to Mano Solomon, who is only about 1.65 meters tall.

However, the relaxed atmosphere was quickly replaced by a harsh test, with head coach Frank asking for a 1km run. This test, which will be repeated during the preparations for the new season, is to run into 3 minutes and 15 seconds, including a turnaround. Takai Yukio was assigned to a group of outstanding strength, including Brennan Johnson, Risalisson, Lucas Berrival, Pap Saar, Rodrigo Bentankule and Ben Davis. It is impressive that although the J League season is in full swing, Yuki Takai is in the game, he still shows the "good speed" emphasized by Yuki Okada, crossing the finish line earlier than many teammates in the group. The picture after traversing the line perfectly interprets the intensity of Premier League training: this young central defender who has 81 first-team appearance experience in Japan and scored 4 goals and helped the team reach the 2025 AFC Champions League final was directly exhausted and collapsed on the grass. He was soaked in sweat, he lay down on his back, spread his arms out, and gasped heavily. When the camera lens approached and asked, "How do you feel? Are you okay?", Takai Yuki, who sat up, shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "No."

This set of lenses clearly conveyed a signal: the challenge of the Premier League is far from easy, even for players who are in their prime and in good condition. For the young Yukio Takai, his journey at Tottenham has truly felt the intensity and rhythm of the Premier League since the first moment he was tired on Enfield grass. His adaptation journey has just begun.