Aston Villa have signed Japan goalkeeper Akane Okuma, topic to visa approval.
The 21-year-old joins the Girls’s Tremendous League aspect from Japanese membership INAC Kobe Leonessa, the place she had performed since 2024.
Okuma started her senior profession at JEF United Chiba.
She represented Japan at youth degree and was a part of the senior squad that gained the 2026 AFC Girls’s Asian Cup alongside new Villa team-mate Maya Hijikata.
Villa director of girls’s soccer Marisa Ewers mentioned: “Akane is an thrilling younger expertise with a number of potential and we’re delighted to welcome her to Aston Villa.
“As a membership, we’re all the time taking a look at alternatives to determine expertise in numerous markets all over the world, and we’re happy to carry a participant of Akane’s profile to Villa.”
Okuma mentioned she was wanting ahead to the following step in her profession.
“I am very comfortable to be right here,” she mentioned. “I really feel actually lucky to be part of this membership, and I can not wait to play with the group.”
Villa completed ninth within the 12-team WSL final season. The league’s 2026-27 fixtures are scheduled to be launched on 30 July, with the competitors increasing to function 14 groups.
