He joins compatriot Koji Miyoshi, who joined Birmingham in the 2023/24 season from Belgian club Royal Antwerp with the latter starting in the season opener 1-1 draw with Reading on Sunday.

Yokoyama was part of the Japan U20 squad that featured in the AFC U20 Asian Cup™ Uzbekistan 2023 where he played an important role in his team reaching the semi-finals of the tournament.

Ten-time Malaysia Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim had a busy couple of days with various ins and outs, led most notably by the departure of Syrian international Jalil Elias who has signed on loan with Argentine side Velez Sarsfield.

That enabled the capture of 29-year-old midfielder Iker Undabarrena from CD Leganes in Spain and Eddy Israfilov from Neftci in Azerbaijan as well as outgoing loan moves for Endrick dos Santos to Vietnamese side Ho Chi Minh City and striker Fergus Tierney to Thailand’s Chonburi FC.

Midfielder Mohammadjavad Hosseinnejad secured a move to Europe from Sepahan FC, after the Islamic Republic of Iran midfielder signing with Dinamo Makhachkala in the Russian Premier League while Gabonese midfielder Didier Ndong joined Esteghlal FC from Al Riyadh.

Over in Japan, FC Tokyo confirmed the signing of Brazilian forward Everton Galdino from Gremio while it was a return home for Kyosuke Tagawa who left Hearts in Scotland to link up with Kashima Antlers.