Iniesta joins Vissel Kobe

According to ESPN, Japanese club Vissel Kobe have announced the signing of Andres Iniesta.

Since making his debut in 2002/03, Iniesta played 674 games for Barcelona and scored 57 goals in all competitions. He has won the Champions League four times, nine La Liga and six Copa del Rey trophies with the Catalan club, coupled with two European Championships and a World Cup with Spain. One of the finest midfielders of his era, Iniesta was instrumental for that period of success for both club and country. In his last three seasons with Barcelona, he wore the captain’s armband.

However, at the age of 34, his importance for Barcelona had been dwindling during the 2017/18 season, and despite signing a lifetime contract as recently as October last year, he has decided to move on. Only a few days after his emotional farewell at the Camp Nou, he has agreed to continue playing in Japan. He will be joining former FC Köln, Bayern Munich and Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski there.

Hiroshi Mikitani, the club owner and founder and CEO of Barcelona’s main sponsor Rakuten, said that Iniesta’s arrival would raise the profile of Japanese football and promote the J-League globally.