Daichi Kamada
CDMRWCM
Japan30 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
CDM
Defensive midfieldMain
4,103 min · 75 apps · 41 starts
RW
Right wing
1,762 min · 22 apps · 22 starts
CM
Central midfield
919 min · 11 apps · 11 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Crystal Palace · independent of the season filter
Important
Involvement78%
Performance45%
Through the match on 5 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Daichi Kamada has played several versions of the midfield creator. At Eintracht Frankfurt he worked higher up the pitch, finding pockets behind defenders and picking out runners. At Crystal Palace, his central midfield work has also asked him to help move the ball through a press. His strength is finding the next passing lane.
His route began at Sagan Tosu after Higashiyama High School. Frankfurt signed him in 2017, but his first season in Germany brought few opportunities. A 2018/19 loan to Sint-Truiden gave him a freer role behind the forwards. He returned to Frankfurt in 2019 better equipped to receive between lines, turn and connect attacks.
Frankfurt's 2021/22 Europa League campaign gave that work a larger stage. Kamada started the final against Rangers in May 2022. Frankfurt won on penalties after a 1-1 draw, with Kamada converting his kick in the shootout.
After a season with Lazio in 2023/24, Kamada joined Palace in July 2024 and reunited with Oliver Glasner, his coach during Frankfurt's European triumph. His role did not simply repeat his old attacking brief. In the 2025 FA Cup final, he started alongside Adam Wharton in midfield as Palace beat Manchester City 1-0 for the club's first major trophy.
The next European run showed both sides of his game. Against Shakhtar Donetsk in April 2026, Kamada scored from a loose ball and later released Jørgen Strand Larsen for Palace's third goal in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final. In the May final against Rayo Vallecano, he again started next to Wharton as Palace won 1-0.
UEFA's analysis of that final explains the quieter work behind the result. Kamada sometimes pulled left to receive, stretching Rayo's press. He then supplied Wharton before Wharton carried forward and shot in the move that produced the winning rebound. The sequence shows how a midfielder can create space without taking the final shot.
For Japan, Kamada's position has varied too. Playing higher behind the striker against Tunisia at the 2026 World Cup, he began a move with a flick, continued his run and finished the cut-back as Japan won 4-0. He later started in central midfield against Brazil in the round of 32; Japan led before losing 2-1. His tournament showed his ability to arrive in scoring areas and work from deeper positions.