Sota Kitano (北野 颯太, Kitano Sota, born 13 August 2004) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for J1 League club Cerezo Osaka.
[2] On 25 October 2020, Kitano made his league debut against Gamba Osaka U-23.
[3] In doing so, he became the youngest player to debut in an official match at 16 years, 2 months and 12 days, a record formerly held by forward Yoichiro Kakitani.
At 17 years, 6 months and 17 days old, he became the club's youngest player to score in an official match, breaking Takumi Minamino's record of 18 years, 2 months and 7 days old when he scored his first professional goal.
[9] Kitano was called up to the Japan U20s on 7 February 2023 for the 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup.