# 2023 Vegalta Sendai season

The 2023 season was Vegalta Sendai's 35th season in existence and the club's second consecutive season in the second division of Japanese football. In addition to the domestic league, Vegalta Sendai participated in this season's edition of the Emperor's Cup.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 13 March 2023.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Yuma Obata |
| 2 | MF | JPN | Yosuke Akiyama |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Naoya Fukumori |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Koji Hachisuka |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Masashi Wakasa |
| 6 | MF | BRA | Ewerton (on loan from Portimonense) |
| 7 | FW | JPN | Motohiko Nakajima (on loan from Cerezo Osaka) |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Yoshiki Matsushita |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Masato Nakayama |
| 10 | MF | PRK | Ryang Yong-gi |
| 11 | MF | JPN | Yuta Goke |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Hiroto Yamada (on loan from Cerezo Osaka) |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Ryunosuke Sagara |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Masahiro Sugata |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Chihiro Kato |
| 18 | MF | JPN | Ryoma Kida |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | DF | KOR | Kim Tae-hyeon (on loan from Ulsan Hyundai) |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Riku Umeda |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Yuta Koide |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Takumi Mase |
| 27 | MF | JPN | George Onaiwu |
| 28 | FW | JPN | Ryunosuke Sugawara |
| 29 | MF | JPN | Aoi Kudo |
| 32 | MF | JPN | Hiromu Kamada |
| 33 | GK | JPN | Akihiro Hayashi |
| 35 | MF | BRA | Foguinho |
| 41 | DF | JPN | Yuto Uchida |
| 45 | GK | JPN | Koki Matsuzawa (on loan from Tokushima Vortis) |
| 46 | MF | JPN | Rikuto Ishio |
| 50 | MF | JPN | Yasushi Endo |
| 88 | FW | KOR | Heo Yong-joon (on loan from Pohang Steelers) |

## Transfers

Transfers in :
| Join on | Pos. | Player | Moving from | Transfer type |
| 10 Mar | MF | Rikuto Ishio | Sendai University | Loan transfer; 2023 DSP |
| 9 Mar | GK | Koki Matsuzawa | Tokushima Vortis | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Akihiro Hayashi | FC Tokyo | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Riku Umeda | Osaka Gakuin University | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Yuta Koide | Oita Trinita | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Masahiro Sugata | Roasso Kumamoto | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Yuta Goke | Vissel Kobe | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Aoi Kudo | Hannan University | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Ryunosuke Sagara | Sagan Tosu | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Yosuke Akiyama | JEF United Chiba | Loan return |
| Pre-season | MF | Ewerton | Portimonense SC | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Hiroto Yamada | Cerezo Osaka | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Heo Yong-joon | Pohang Steelers | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | George Onaiwu | Niigata University UHW | Free transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Ryunosuke Sugawara | Sanno University | Free transfer |
Transfers out :
| Leave on | Pos. | Player | Moving to | Transfer type |
| 12 Mar | GK | Daichi Sugimoto | Nagoya Grampus | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Nedeljko Stojišić | Machida Zelvia | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | GK | Kaito Ioka | Gainare Tottori | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Wataru Tanaka | Montedio Yamagata | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Kyohei Yoshino | Yokohama FC | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Yasuhiro Hiraoka | Ehime FC | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | DF | Hayato Teruyama | FC Imabari | Full transfer; Loan made permanent |
| Pre-season | DF | Yota Sato | Gamba Osaka | Loan expiration |
| Pre-season | MF | Takayoshi Ishihara | Zweigen Kanazawa | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Kota Osone | Fujieda MYFC | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Takumi Nagura | V-Varen Nagasaki | Loan transfer |
| Pre-season | MF | Leandro Desábato | – | Contract expiration |
| Pre-season | MF | Shingo Tomita | – | Retirement |
| Pre-season | FW | Cayman Togashi | Sagan Tosu | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Yusuke Minagawa | Renofa Yamaguchi | Full transfer |
| Pre-season | FW | Felippe Cardoso | Santos FC | Loan expiration |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J2 League | 19 February 2023 | 12 November 2023 | Matchday 1 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 21 | +5 | 040.00 |
| Emperor's Cup | 7 June 2023 | | Second round | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 042.86 |
Last updated: 7 June 2023 Source: Soccerway

### J2 League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 14 | Roasso Kumamoto | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 49 |
| 15 | Tokushima Vortis | 42 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 43 | 53 | −10 | 49 |
| 16 | Vegalta Sendai | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 48 |
| 17 | Mito HollyHock | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 49 | 66 | −17 | 47 |
| 18 | Iwaki FC | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 47 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 18 May 2023. Source: Worldfootball

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | D | L | W | L | L | W | D | D | L | W | D | L | W | W |
| Position | 10 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 20 January 2023.