In profile: Maika Hamano

Maika Hamano became our fourth signing of the winter having secured a loan for the remainder of the season from Chelsea on Sunday morning (4 January).

With the additions of Signe Gaupset, Hanna Wijk and Matilda Nildén, the Japan international is another strong addition to Martin Ho’s squad as we look to build on our strong first half of the Barclays Women’s Super League season.

Only 21 years old, Maika has racked up wealth of experience already – and we’ve seen that first hand in the WSL – while impressing on the international stage for her nation across major tournaments.

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, the young forward’s journey began at Cerezo Osaka Sakai, predominately competing in the second tier of Japanese football and scored 11 goals in 33 league games, before making the move to top-flight side INAC Kobe Leonessa in 2021 at just 17 years old.

A forward with plenty of high energy on either flank, she was straight into the first team for the 2021/22 season and instantly made her mark on her competitive debut for the club, scoring a brace in their 5-0 win over Omlya Ardija in September, 2021. She went on to feature in 16 games in total that season, starting nine of those, registering two goals and one assists, as her side went on to finish top of the table by eight points.

Not only did she shine in domestic club football that season, but Maika was one of the standout players at the Under-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Netting four goals and one assist in six appearances, the versatile forward helped Japan to a second-place finish in the tournament before being awarded the Golden Ball award, a trophy that recognises the best player in the competition, plus the Silver Boot award for finishing as the second-highest goalscorer.

Returning to action for her club in Japan, she went on to make seven appearances in the 2022/23 campaign in all competitions, scoring two goals and providing one assist, before agreeing a move to England to join Chelsea in January, 2023.

Just prior to her switch to the WSL, her impressive form for Japan at Under-20 level saw her rewarded with a senior debut for her nation in October, 2022, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 friendly win over Nigeria.

Maika immediately headed out on loan to Swedish side Hammarby IF for the 2023 season, playing alongside Matilda Vinberg in the squad, and went on to make 22 appearances for the club in all competitions, registering 11 goals and three assists in that time, before her loan was cut short due to a shoulder injury.

In the summer of 2023, she was named in Japan’s World Cup squad and played for the first time in the competition when she was substituted on in their defeat to Sweden in the quarter-final.

Having recovered from surgery for her shoulder injury, Maika made her Chelsea and WSL debut in December, 2023, before netting her first goal in England in a 3-0 win at home to Aston Villa in April, 2024. She went on to play eight times for the Blues for the remainder of the 2023/24 season, scoring twice in the WSL, before collecting a WSL winner’s medal.

Major international tournaments kept continuing for the forward, this time being part of Japan’s squad for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris, where she featured in all four games in their run to the quarter-final, scoring once in their 3-1 victory over Nigeria.

The following term, she made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut in the group phase opener against Real Madrid in October, 2024 before, on her second appearance, she netted her first goal in the competition in a 3-1 win over FC Twente and followed that up with another strike against Celtic in the next fixture, making seven appearances in total for the competition.

In the 2024/25 WSL season, she featured 17 times for the Blues, starting in 10 and scoring twice, to help retain the league title while also lifting the Women’s FA Cup and the Women’s League Cup.

Prior to her move to Lilywhite this month, Maika has played seven games in the first half of this term, scoring twice – one in the WSL and the Champions League, which came in their 6-0 win over AS Roma just a few weeks ago.