On the Rise

On the Rise is our series of dated picks: young J1 players whose numbers suggest they deserve a scout's attention before their price reflects it. Each pick names the player, the club and the date we published it.

To be considered, a player must be 23 or younger on the publication date, have played at least 900 league minutes in the season our per-90 data covers (currently J1 2024, from API-Football), and still be at a J1 club when we publish, which we check that day against Football LAB and club announcements. Each pick page shows the player's per-90 figures as percentiles against J1 players in the same position with 900 or more minutes, plus a "Plays like" comparison built from eight per-90 percentiles. If a pick departs from any of these rules, its caveats say so.

Picks feed our Track Record. The publication date is fixed once a pick goes live, and picks are not edited after the fact or removed. Each starts as Open and will later move to Hit or Miss, and misses stay on the list.

One limit to keep in mind: the per-90 figures describe the 2024 season, so a pick is a prompt to watch a player now, not a verdict on how good he is today.