# Minori Sato

Minori Sato (佐藤 穣, Satō Minori, born 2 March 1991) is a Japanese former football player.

## Club career

Sato started his professional career in the J2 League. In 2010, after a trial with the Primera División de México club Puebla FC, he signed a 4-year contract. The same year he was sent on loan to FB Gulbene, that time playing in the Latvian First League, in order to gain experience before joining Puebla FC back from loan. He scored 10 goals in 7 games there, attracting interest from other Latvian clubs. In March, 2011 he signed a contract with Virsliga club FK Ventspils for one season. He won the Latvian Cup with the team, beating Liepājas Metalurgs in the final. He played 12 matches there, without scoring any goals before being transferred to another Latvian Higher League team Skonto Riga in August 2011. Sato played 38 league matches, scoring 3 goals for Skonto during 2 seasons in the Latvian Higher League with the club. In March 2013 he was transferred to the Belarusian Premier League club Dinamo Brest.
In March 2014, Sato signed a two-year contract with FC Bunyodkor in the Uzbek League, and upon making his debut became Bunyodkor's 25th foreign representative.
In January 2018, Sato signed Gwangju FC.
On 27 August 2019, he signed with Russian Football National League side SKA-Khabarovsk.
As of 2023, he played for FC Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan.

## Club statistics
### Club

    As of match played 23 November 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Continental | Continental | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Thespa Kusatsu | 2009 | J2 League | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | 0 |
| Gulbene-2005 (loan) | 2010 | Latvian First League | 7 | 10 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 11 |
| Ventspils | 2011 | Latvian Higher League | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Skonto | 2011 | Latvian Higher League | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 3 |
| Skonto | 2012 | Latvian Higher League | 23 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | 26 | 1 |
| Skonto | Total | Total | 36 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 0 | 0 | - | - | 39 | 4 |
| Dinamo Brest | 2013 | Belarusian Premier League | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 30 | 0 |
| Bunyodkor | 2014 | Uzbek League | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Bunyodkor | 2015 | Uzbek League | 28 | 4 | 5 | 0 | - | - | 7 | 0 | - | - | 40 | 4 |
| Bunyodkor | 2016 | Uzbek League | 27 | 5 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 6 | 0 | - | - | 39 | 6 |
| Bunyodkor | Total | Total | 71 | 10 | 15 | 1 | - | - | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 11 |
| Muaither | 2016–17 | Qatar Stars League | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Riga | 2017 | Latvian Higher League | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | 0 |
| Gwangju | 2018 | K League 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 0 |
| Riga | 2019 | Latvian Higher League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| SKA-Khabarovsk | 2019–20 | FNL | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 230 | 23 | 33 | 3 | - | - | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 280 | 26 |
$^3$Includes Baltic League.

## Awards and honours
### Club
#### Gulbene 2005

* Latvian First League: 2010

#### Ventspils

* Latvian Football Cup: 2010–11

#### Skonto FC

* Latvian Football Cup: 2011–12