Central midfielder Shinya Yajima returned from a loan spell with Vegalta Sendai where he spent the second half of the 2018 campaign while forward Hiroto Goya came back from J2 side Tokushima Vortis having only played 7 games due to injury.

After his country's elimination from the 2019 AFC Asian Cup it was announced that South Korean defender Kim Young-gwon would sign from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande.

At half time of the week 3 J.League fixture at home to Nagoya Grampus, it was announced that Spanish winger David Concha would join the club on loan from Real Sociedad.

Attacking midfielder Haruya Ide left for J2 outfit, Montedio Yamagata, after 2 indifferent seasons in Osaka while young Korean defender Bae Soo-yong was again loaned out, this time to J3 side Kamatamare Sanuki.

Giant forward Shun Nagasawa, who spent the second half of 2018 on loan at Vissel Kobe, left permanently for Vegalta Sendai at the end of December.

The beginning of 2019 brought with it the surprising news that attacking midfielder Jin Izumisawa, who'd spent the second half of 2018 on loan at J2 side Tokyo Verdy, would take the next step in his career in Poland with Pogoń Szczecin.

In terms of summer departures, veteran full-back Oh Jae-suk left on loan to once again link up with former Gamba head-coach Kenta Hasegawa at FC Tokyo.

Wing back Tatsuya Tanaka also left for fellow J1 side Oita Trinita, a mere 7 months after joining Gamba from Roasso Kumamoto.

Young striker Akito Takagi, who bagged 11 goals in just 17 J3 games for Gamba U23 joined former team-mate Hiroki Noda on loan at J2 side Montedio Yamagata.

Young attacker Ryotaro Meshino later made the surprise move to English side Manchester City on a permanent deal and the following week central-midfielder, Takahiro Ko, joined J2 outfit Renofa Yamaguchi on loan until the end of the season.

[50] Gamba were drawn alongside fellow J1 clubs; Jubilo Iwata, Matsumoto Yamaga and Shimuzu S-Pulse and after accumulating 11 points from 6 games they topped their group and reached the playoff round where they were paired with J2 League side V-Varen Nagasaki.

A 4–1 victory in the first leg away from home ended the tie as a contest and although Nagasaki snatched a 2–0 win at the Panasonic Stadium it wasn't enough and Gamba progressed to the quarter-finals where they were paired with FC Tokyo.