One of the star performers of Leeds United’s title-winning promotion season has opened up on feeling like giving up en route to the Premier League.
Leeds celebrated their Championship title and promotion back to the top flight with more than 150,000 fans in the city centre on Monday and Ao Tanaka was front and centre on one of the three buses parading the one-mile route. The midfielder played a starring role this season, his first in English football, after a £2.9m move from Fortuna Dusseldorf in the German second tier. A fully fledged Japan international, Tanaka had to bide his time to break into Daniel Farke’s starting XI and it took serious injuries for Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev to bring about the opportunity. But from October 1 when he first started a Championship game until the thrilling final day of the campaign in Plymouth, Tanaka started 37 games, scoring five goals and adding two assists.
His performances earned him the coveted Players’ Player of the Year award and he walked away with the club’s Goal of the Season accolade too, at Sunday night’s awards bash at Elland Road.
And with the dust now settled on a remarkable first year as a Leeds player, Tanaka has reflected on his eventual rise to the top level of the game. Next season he will kick a ball in a top European league for the first time, aged 26. He admits he should have arrived at this point earlier and frustration with his career progress made him feel like walking away.
Ao Tanaka’s emotional statement
“The season is over,” he said in an Instagram post. “It was only after coming to Europe that I felt that my efforts had paid off. It took too long to get to this point, and I think I took a long detour. There were times when I felt like giving up, but I always believed in myself and continued to struggle with what I had, which is why I was able to get this far.”
Tanaka insists that reaching this point in his career is just a start and that he will now attempt to make the ‘impossible’ possible.
“However, I know better than anyone that I haven’t accomplished anything yet, and that I’ve only just earned the right to stand on the starting line,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll face new challenges and obstacles from now on, but I want to feel joy in them and continue to grow. I’ll face myself more than ever and work hard to make the impossible possible for myself.”
Tanaka’s emotional journey through this past year came to a head in public fashion when he broke down on the pitch and in the dressing room after the late-season win over Middlesbrough. He had to be consoled by team-mate Joe Rodon and manager Farke and admitted he felt empty and exhausted, days after Leeds were booed off by a section of the away support at Luton. That draw at Kenilworth Road was followed by six straight wins to achieve 100 points, a league title and promotion.
