Akane Okuma, the Japanese Goalkeeper Set to Join Aston Villa
England football club Aston Villa has signed Japanese goalkeeper Akane Okuma. But whether or not the young goalie joins the team is subject to visa approval.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper from Japan, Akane Okuma joins the Women’s Super League side from Japanese club INAC Kobe Leonessa where she had played since 2024. The young goalie began her career as a senior player at the JEF United Chiba and she has represented Japan both at the youth level and senior team that won the AFC Women’s Asia Cup in 2026 where her new Aston Villa teammate, Maya Hijikata also played in the same team.
On the signing of Okuma, Marisa Ewers, the Villa director of women’s football, said, “Akane is an exciting young talent with a lot of potential and we are delighted to welcome her to Aston Villa. As a club, we are always looking at opportunities to identify talent in different markets around the world, and we are pleased to bring a player of Akane’s profile to Villa.”
Okuma said she was looking forward to the next step in her career. “I am very happy to be here. I feel really fortunate to be part of this club, and I can't wait to play with the team.”
In the WSL last season, Aston Villa finished 9th out of the 12 teams that played. And the league’s fixtures for the 2026-27 season are scheduled to be released on Jul 30, 2026 with the competition expanding to feature 14 teams in all.
Source
BBC Sport