Club Career
Kikuchi played for the Shimizu S-Pulse junior youth team and Shimizu Commercial High School, which has a strong soccer tradition with players such as Shinji Ono among its alumni. After graduating the school, he joined Júbilo Iwata and briefly loaned to Albirex Niigata. In 2002, he was invited to have a try-out at Arsenal F.C. and later went on to have another trial with a Dutch team, Feyenoord.
On June 13, 2007, Kikuchi was arrested in Hamamatsu city for the charge of an statutory rape on a 15-year-old high school student. He was suspend an indictment and released some days later. On June 29, 2007 he was sacked by the club after the scandal. The Japan Football Association imposed one year suspension on him. After performing voluntary community service for some months, he moved to Germany and joined FC Carl Zeiss Jena.
In summer 2009, Kikuchi left FC Carl Zeiss Jena and joined another German club FC Schalke 04 on trial and signed on July 27, 2009 for Oita Trinita.
In the winter of 2010, Kikuchi transferred from Oita to Albirex Niigata.
Read more about this topic: Naoya Kikuchi
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