Yokohama F. Marinos on Wednesday announced attacking midfielder Manabu Saito as the club’s new captain.

The 26-year-old, who scored 10 goals in 33 MEIJI YASUDA J1 League appearances last year, recently signed on for his ninth season at the club and inherited former captain Shunsuke Nakamura’s No.10 shirt.

“It will be a challenge for me to take on this new responsibility as captain, but together with my vice-captains and our experienced squad I want to help the team become stronger,” Saito commented.

The club also announced that last year’s vice-captains Yuji Nakazawa, Yuzo Kurihara, and Hiroki Ikura will be joined by midfielder Takuya Kida.