Ayase Ueda with more goals than Kane: The current top scorer in Europe is a Japanese

Who is the top scorer in Europe right now? Is it Erling Haaland, who scored 100 goals in 111 Premier League games for Manchester City, setting a new record in the English top flight? Is it Kylian Mbappé, who scored 31 goals for Real Madrid in his La Liga debut season? Or is it Harry Kane, who scored 100 goals in 104 games – faster than any other player in FC Bayern’s history? Well, for now the answer is: Ayase Ueda.

After his four goals last weekend against PEC Zwolle, the Japanese international is currently the top scorer in the top ten European leagues. With 18 goals, he is ahead of Haaland (15 goals), Mbappé (16 goals) and Kane (17 goals). But who is Ueda and why is he still relatively unknown?

This has, among other things, to do with the striker’s career. In an industry where Mbappé was crowned world champion at the age of 19 and Haaland scored three goals on his Champions League debut at the same age, Ayase Ueda is unique.

At the age of 19, Ueda was still studying nutrition and sports science in Tokyo. In addition to his studies, he played football for the local Hosei University. Thanks to his performance, the team won its first championship title in the university league after 42 years. Ueda then went to his first professional position in the J-League. At the Kashima Antlers he then contributed 47 goals in 103 games.

“When I score a goal, I hear the fans and their joy. I let that sink in”

It was only in the summer of 2022, at the age of 24, that the striker finally took the step to Europe, to the Belgian first division club Cercle Bruges. Ueda scored 18 goals there before moving to Feyenoord Rotterdam after just one season. There the Japanese’s rise stalled for the first time: in the Dutch port city he met crowd favorite Santiago Gimenez. In the shadow of the Mexican striker, Ueda was unable to build on his time in Belgium. Even in the 2024/25 season, the Japanese didn’t really impress – despite his storm rival’s winter move to AC Milan.

But this season, at the age of 27, Ayase Ueda is playing the best football of his career. His reaction to goals also matches the striker’s patient nature. While other footballers cheer frantically, Ueda quietly enjoys the highlights of a long journey. “When I score a goal, I hear the fans and their joy. I let that sink in,” he told the Dutch newspaper AD.

Feyenoord’s number 9 has plenty of opportunities to enjoy this season. With every goal, Ueda is creeping up on historic heights. If the Japanese player actually maintains his current scoring rate (1.2 goals per game), he could surpass the best seasons of top scorers such as Ronaldo Nazário (30 goals), Luis Suárez (35 goals) and Marco van Basten (37 goals) in the Eredivisie. However, there is still a long way to go until the end of the season.

It is perhaps no coincidence that it is a former exceptional striker, Robin van Persie, who is continuously driving forward Ueda’s performance development in Rotterdam. Van Persie has been Feyenoord’s head coach since the beginning of 2024. After his top scorer scored a brace against Volendam in November, the coach emphasized that Ueda “should have scored more than two goals” based on the chances.

However, Ayase Ueda still has to show that he can maintain the performance of the first half of the season consistently throughout the season and beyond – and also score more goals in the Europa League. It’s a bit easier to score against Zwolle, Volendam or Heerenveen than Haaland against Chelsea, Mbappé against Barcelona or Kane against Leverkusen. There is still a long way for the Japanese to reach status as an international-class striker. But Ayase Ueda is known to be familiar with long distances.