FC St. Pauli are far from Bundesliga regulars.
The 2025/2026 campaign saw Kiezkicker start a second consecutive season in Germany’s top-flight for the first time since 1996/1997.
Therefore, it won’t come as a surprise that they find themselves well and truly in a relegation fight this term, with the Hamburg-based side currently sat bottom of the table at the time of writing this piece.
One of the major bright sparks for the Alexander Blessin-led side in 2025/2026 has been Joel Chima Fujita (175cm/5’9”, 76kg/167lbs), who joined St. Pauli from Belgian Pro League side Sint-Truiden for €3.5m last summer.
The 23-year-old is currently valued at €8m per Transfermarkt, making him St. Pauli’s most valuable player.
Despite St. Pauli’s struggles in the German top flight this term, Fujita has demonstrated clear quality worthy of a place in a top-five league like the Bundesliga.
This Joel Chima Fujita scout report analyses the Japan international’s game, highlighting what’s made the summer signing such a crucial component of St. Pauli’s battle against relegation this term.
We outline why the midfielder’s key strengths lie in his playmaking, versatility, and work rate, as well as potential areas for further improvement, particularly in Fujita’s goal threat.
Joel Chima Fujita Stats
Joel Chima Fujita profiles as a highly progressive, high-tempo midfielder with a strong playmaking contribution for his side.
The below pizza chart in Figure 1 shows Joel Chima Fujita’s percentile ranks for 2025/2026 in several key metrics when his performance is compared to that of other left central midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues.
It must also be noted, however, that while left central midfield is where Fujita has picked up more minutes than any other position, he has been deployed in a variety of different areas for St. Pauli this term, including a deep holding midfield role, a ‘10’ role and both left and right wing; hence, the data is not solely reflective of Fujita’s performance in central midfield alone.
Joel Chima Fujita Pizza Chart 2025/2026
Fujita’s profile is quite well-rounded, with some standout statistics in each of the three distinct sections of the pizza chart: ‘attacking’, ‘possession’ and ‘defending’.
Fujita’s main strengths lie in his possession game.
However, he’s not a midfielder you want to help patiently control the game, dictate the tempo and retain the ball.
Though comfortable playing as a ‘6’, an ‘8’ or as a ‘10’, Fujita is a vertical player, regardless of which midfield role he occupies.
He finds it very natural to receive on the half-turn, get his head up, and play the ball forward quickly.
He likes to break lines and is constantly seeking opportunities to play teammates through on goal.
This is why his pizza chart displays a high percentile rank in ‘dangerous passes per 90’ and ‘progressive passes per 90’, but a low rank in pass accuracy %.
Fujita also has a high percentile rank in both ‘received passes per 90’ and ‘passes per 90’.
This reflects the midfielder’s ability to find space and make himself available for teammates to comfortably pick out, making him a strong connector of defence and attack.
He shows extremely good spatial awareness and displays great positioning both in settled phases of possession and in transitions.
Fujita’s attacking metrics are more or less average across the board, with a spike in ‘dribbles per 90’.
The Japanese midfielder is comfortable taking defenders on.
He likes to get his hips low when receiving, and he’s noticeably agile, capable of riding challenges and protecting the ball well with a low centre of gravity and intelligent body positioning to make up for the fact that he’s not the biggest or strongest midfielder, at 175cm, 76kg.
Joel Chima Fujita’s work rate is a clear standout in his game, both in and out of possession.
When his team has the ball, it’s common to see Fujita frequently scanning to ensure he has a clear picture of the state of play around him.
This enables him to make better and faster decisions should he receive the ball.
He also moves about to find space as required.
If he’s evading attention, he’ll try to be discreet with his movement and the way in which he shows for the ball.
However, if he needs to quickly get into a specific position, he’ll sprint if necessary to occupy that zone where the space lies and where he can be a better option for his teammates.
Out of possession, Fujita is comfortable playing a key role in his team’s high press, closing players down aggressively and defending on the front foot.
However, he’s also good at occupying valuable space in a low block and defending with intelligent positioning.
A tenacious spirit and high work rate is still evident in situations like the latter, however, which is a valuable skill in terms of what it offers his team on the pitch as well as how it can contribute to a heightened atmosphere in the stadium, as his play style lends itself to excitement in a way that will generate noise.
Joel Chima Fujita In Possession
Joel Chima Fujita has probably been allowed too much space on too many occasions this season.
He is a notable threat in this St. Pauli side with his vision and ability to play line-breaking through passes from high or from deep, so he should be watched closely by the opposition a bit more than he is.
Of course, his movement and positioning also play a role in that.
His ability to find and exploit space has enabled him to play a lot of beautiful, creative passes from all over the pitch this term.
Above, we see a typical example of the kind of area where you can expect to find Joel Chima Fujita during St. Pauli’s possession phases.
We find him in a similar position on the right rather than the left as St. Pauli aim to break down Borussia Dortmund in the clip above.
His frequent scanning is clear in the clip, but he wasn’t completely ready for the ball to come his way as it arrives, leading to an awkward first touch and a clunky turn.
Fujita’s through pass here is a bit heavy, which is a notable area for improvement in Fujita’s game.
His vision to spot passing opportunities like this is strong, but he doesn’t consistently get the weight of pass right, which can lead to missed opportunities such as this example.
Fujita enters a similar position again versus Borussia Dortmund in the second clip.
Having been leading St. Pauli’s press moments before, Fujita easily finds space and makes himself a passing option as St. Pauli transition to attack.
Here, on top of quality movement, positioning and scanning, Fujita’s pass is played to perfection, setting St. Pauli up nicely to trouble BVB’s defence in the final third.
Joel Chima Fujita’s positional versatility is a clear strength.
He’s comfortable all across midfield and attack, with a fantastic attitude, making him a valuable weapon for his manager.
Furthermore, it’s common to find him rotating into different positions all over the midfield and attack, constantly providing the opposing defence with unique challenges.
If Fujita can get more consistent with the weight of his passing and, at times, his first touch, as well as add more of a direct goal threat to his game, that will help him take the next steps in his career.
The 23-year-old is perhaps a little too unselfish at times and could create more for his side by taking more out of the ball and driving at defenders, as his dribbling capability is strong.
By working on his shooting and, simultaneously, his dribbling to open up those potential shooting opportunities, Fujita will add new elements to his game that’ll make him more of a valuable all-around asset for his team.
At the moment, I’d say Fujita is very good in one-touch link play and creative passing, but he won’t take a lot out of the ball and risks falling into predictable territory once opponents start to take his threat a bit more seriously.
Opponents should try to afford him less space as he’s St. Pauli’s primary mode of ball progression and main creative outlet, and if he keeps getting the space he’s been getting this term, he could prove the key to their escape from the relegation zone.
Joel Chima Fujita Out Of Possession
As noted, Joel Chima Fujita brings lots of energy to the pitch both in and out of possession.
We see an example of Joel Chima Fujita making up for a lack of strength and physicality with intensity and intelligent positioning in the clip above, where he applies constant pressure to force the opponent back and out of St. Pauli’s third.
Fujita is happy to provide a defensive presence at both ends of the pitch, in all phases of play, again pointing to an excellent attitude which any coach would value and appreciate.
Above, St. Pauli counterpress while Dortmund try to play out from the back.
Joel Chima Fujita positions himself very intelligently, so he’s in the perfect place to intercept the BVB pass and regain possession for St. Pauli right on the edge of the Dortmund box.
It’s positional intelligence that regains the ball for St. Pauli here, more than physical exertion.
Fujita is more than capable of providing both.
Here, Joel Chima Fujita just drops back slightly as the opponent tries to dribble out of pressure before making a decisive challenge to win possession in a strong position for St. Pauli to play a creative forward pass.
While Fujita doesn’t provide a strong physical presence for St. Pauli, he still adds a lot of defensive quality through work rate, technique and intelligent positioning, which can be even more valuable.
Conclusion
Joel Chima Fujita’s versatility likely makes him desirable for a variety of teams and systems.
However, I could see him fitting perfectly as an ‘8’ in a 4-3-3 or a ‘6’/’8’ hybrid in a 4-2-3-1.
In possession structures, Fujita could fit as part of a ‘2’ in a 3-2-5, for instance, or as a half-space attacker in the front five.
Ideally, he’ll be paired with a more physical midfielder who’s happy to hold and control the tempo from deep.
If given freedom to push on, find space, receive on the half-turn, and be empowered to break lines and create in such a setup, Fujita has very strong potential and could prove a bargain for a team looking to compete in Europe.
