is a Japanese professional footballer who captains and plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.
Yoshida formerly played for the Japan national team, making over 120 appearances. He was a member of the side's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and the AFC Asian Cup in 2011, 2015 and 2019, winning the latter tournament in 2011 and finishing as runner-up in 2019. He was additionally part of Japan's Olympic football team at the 2008, 2012 and 2020 games.
Club career Nagoya Grampus Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Yoshida began playing football at Nanling FC in his second year at elementary school. His older brother, Honami, played an important role in starting his football career when he searched on the internet for Nagoya Grampus's U-15 team and this led Yoshida to join the U-15 team. Once Yoshida joined, he relocated to Nagoya to be close at Nagoya Grampus and attended Toyota High School.
After spending five years at Nagoya Grampus Youth Academy, he was promoted to the first team in the 2007 season, having signed his first professional contract. Yoshida joined the club's first team training soon after and started out as a defensive midfielder while playing for Nagoya Grampus's youth team, but was converted to centre back. After spending months on the substitute bench, Yoshida finally made his debut for the club, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 2–1 loss against Oita Trinita on 3 May 2007. Since then, he became a first team regular for Nagoya Grampus, playing in the centre–back position. On 5 November 2007, Yoshida scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 win against Thespa Kusatsu in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup. At the end of the 2007 season, he went on to make twenty–four appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
In the 2008 season, Yoshida began to feature in the starting line-up for most of the league matches, forming a centre–back partnership with his Serbian teammate Miloš Bajalica. He started the season well when he helped Nagoya Grampus go on an unbeaten run of seven matches in all competitions. Yoshida continued to feature in the first team until he was called up to the Japan U23 squad in July. After Japan U23's elimination in the Summer Olympics, it was not until 23 August 2008 that Yoshida returned to the starting line-up against Kashima Antlers and scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–1 win. However, he lost his first team place and found himself placed on the substitute bench for the next five matches. Yoshida's second goal then came on 2 November 2008 against FC Gifu in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup and helped them win 1–0. By mid–October, he regained his first team place for the remaining matches of the season and helped the club finish third place in the league. For his performance, Yoshida won the Rookie of the Year at the 14th Aichi Toyota "Grand Pass Rankle Award". At the end of the 2008 season, he went on to make twenty–nine appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2009 season, Yoshida switched number shirt to four. He scored Nagoya Grampus's historical first goal in the AFC Champions League in the game against Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i, winning 3–1 on 10 March 2009. Yoshida continued to regain his first team place for the club, playing in the centre–back position. His second goal of the season came on 26 April 2009, scoring an equaliser goal, in a 2–1 win against Yokohama F. Marinos. However by early–July, he suffered a calf injury that saw him out for two weeks. Yoshida made his first team return for Nagoya Grampus on 18 July 2009, starting the match, in a 1–1 draw against Kyoto Sanga. He scored his third goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against FC Tokyo eleven days later on 29 July 2009, but the club was eliminated in the J.League Cup following a 6–3 on aggregate. Since returning to the first team from injury, Yoshida regained his first team place for the club's remaining matches of the 2009 season. He later added two more goals throughout September, scoring against Kashiwa Reysol and Kawasaki Frontale. The following month, Yoshida scored two more goals for Nagoya Grampus, coming against FC Tokyo and Yokohama F. Marinos. He scored his eighth goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against Júbilo Iwata in the fourth round of the Emperor's Cup. Yoshida later helped the club to reach the Emperor's Cup final after beating Shimizu S-Pulse 5–4 on penalty shoot–out following a 1–1 draw throughout 120 minutes. However, he started in the Emperor's Cup Final against Gamba Osaka, as Nagoya Grampus loss 4–1 in what turned out to be his last appearance for the club. At the end of the 2009 season, Yoshida went on to make forty–eight appearances and scoring eight times in all competitions.
VVV-Venlo
In December 2009, it was announced that Yoshida had transferred to Dutch club VVV-Venlo, signing a three–year contract. He had desired to play for a club in Europe since he was young. Keisuke Honda, who was his teammate at Nagoya Grampus, introduced his agent, Tetsuro Kiyooka to support his future vision. Indeed, Yoshida followed the footsteps of Keisuke Honda who also played for VVV-Venlo before he joined them. However, Yoshida's start to VVV-Venlo career suffered a setback when he fractured his foot and left him out for the rest of the 2009–10 season.
At the start of the 2010–11 season, Yoshida continued to recover from his fractured foot. On 30 October 2010, he made his VVV-Venlo debut, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute, and set up the club's third goal of the game, in a 5–3 loss against FC Groningen. Since making his debut for VVV-Venlo, Yoshida quickly became a first team regular for the club. After spending January with Japan in the Asian Cup and winning the tournament, he made his first team return, starting the match, in a 3–0 win against NAC Breda on 5 February 2011. Yoshida later regained his first team place for the remaining matches of the season, as VVV-Venlo qualified for the relegation play–offs. He started all the four matches in the relegation play–offs and helped the club retain their Eredivisie league status. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Yoshida went on to make twenty–four appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2011–12 season, Yoshida continued to retain his first team place for VVV-Venlo, playing in the centre–back position. He scored a bicycle kick goal for VVV-Venlo off a corner kick on 11 September 2011 against PSV Eindhoven, as the match ended in a 3–3 draw. This goal was awarded as "Goal of the Season 2011–2012" of the Eredivisie. The Yoshida scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–1 win against RKC Waalwijk on 22 October 2011. On 18 February 2012, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 4–1 win against De Graafschap. Yoshida's fourth goal of the season came on 3 March 2012, in a 2–1 win against NAC Breda. He scored his fifth goal of the season against Roda JC, but was sent off in the 73rd minute for an unprofessional foul, in a 3–1 loss. After serving a two match suspension, Yoshida returned to the starting line-up, starting the match, in a 2–0 loss against PSV Eindhoven on 31 March 2012. He later started all the four matches in the relegation play–offs and helped the club retain their Eredivisie league status once again. Yoshida's experience in the relegation play–offs led him to write a blog about the subject. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Yoshida went on to make thirty–seven appearances and scoring five times in all competitions as a central defender.
In the 2012–13 season, Yoshida made two appearances for VVV-Venlo, including making his last appearance against ADO Den Haag on 25 August 2012, in which he set up the club's first goal of the game, losing 4–2.
Southampton
On 30 August 2012, Yoshida agreed to join newly–promoted Premier League side Southampton on a three-year contract for a fee thought to be in the region of £3 million and was joined by his teammate, Tadanari Lee. Upon joining the club, he told the Southern Daily Echo that the move to England would help him grow as a player.
Yoshida made his debut for the Saints on 15 September 2012, against Arsenal in a 6–1 defeat, coming on as a 28th-minute substitute for Jos Hooiveld. He then made his home debut a week later on 22 September 2012 in a 4–1 win over Aston Villa, playing the whole 90 minutes. Since joining the club, Yoshida quickly became a first team regular, playing in the centre–back position and forming a partnership with José Fonte. During a 1–1 draw against Swansea City on 10 November 2012, Yoshida made a poor control to the ball that led to Nathan Dyer scoring an equaliser. Despite, he continued to retain his first team place against Queens Park Rangers and helped them win 3–1 on 15 November 2012. Along the way, he was rotated to playing in the left–back and right–back positions. Since making his debut for Southampton, Yoshida started in every match for the Saints and helped improve the results on both the club and the player, himself. Having started the 2012–13 season at the bottom of the table, results improved and he helped Southampton avoid relegation by finishing fourteenth place. In his first season at Southampton, he went on to make thirty–four appearances in all competitions.
However at the start of the 2013–14 season, Yoshida's first team opportunities became limited under the management of Mauricio Pochettino and he found himself on the substitute bench. Despite this, he made his first appearance of the season, in a 5–1 win against Barnsley on 27 August 2013. Yoshida then scored his first goal for Southampton in a 2–1 defeat to Sunderland in the League Cup on 6 November 2013. A month later on 4 December 2013, he made his first Premier League appearance, starting the match, in a 3–2 loss against Aston Villa. At the start of January, Yoshida had a first team run in following an injury to Dejan Lovren, starting the next six matches as the results improved. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–1 defeat at West Ham United on 22 February 2014 after a Steven Davis free kick. But following Lovren's return, he was once again behind the pecking order in the centre–back competitions, as well as, his own injury concerns. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Yoshida went on to make fourteen appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2014–15 season, Yoshida regained his first team place, playing in the centre–back position, following Lovren's departure. However, during a 1–0 win against Swansea City on 20 September 2014, he suffered ankle injury and was substituted in the second half, resulting in him out for four weeks. Although Yoshida returned from injury, he was placed on the substitute bench until on 30 November 2014 against Manchester City, coming on as a second–half substitute, in a 3–0 loss. His next goal came on 20 December 2014, in a 3–0 victory over Everton, with Steven Davis again providing the assist. Two weeks later on 8 January 2015, Southampton announced that Yoshida and the club had agreed terms to an extension of his contract until 2018. After spending January with Japan's campaign at the AFC Asian Cup, he returned to the starting line-up and played the whole game, in a 1–0 loss against Swansea City on 1 February 2015. In a follow–up match against Queens Park Rangers, Yoshida played an important role in the game when he set up the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win. Towards the end of the season, he found himself in and out of the starting line-up in the first team and demoted on the substitute bench. Despite this, Yoshida helped the club finish seventh place in the league, resulting in their qualifying for the UEFA Europa League next season. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he went on to make twenty–three appearances and scoring once in all competitions.