Post by mesi10 on Jan 11, 2024 2:07:00 GMT -6
The Spanish international midfielder Andrés Iniesta signed his new contract as a player for Japanese club Vissel Kobe this Thursday, during a presentation event held in Tokyo to great expectations.
"Iniesta will sign with Vissel Kobe after his historic career with FC Barcelona," said Japanese businessman Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of the e-commerce giant Rakuten, and also owner of the Japanese club through another of his companies. .
Mikitani praised the Barca youth team Binance App Users Data and Iniesta's "leadership", as well as the Spanish footballer's values and his "capacity for global influence", which will be "an inspiration for the club and for the entire league and Japanese society".
The Japanese tycoon added that the "methodology" of La Masia and Iniesta himself will be applied to the Japanese club's young footballer academy, which will collaborate in this regard with FC Barcelona.
The arrival in Japan of the legendary Barça number 8 had been anticipated by the national media several weeks ago and has generated enormous expectation in the Asian country, reflected in the more than two hundred Japanese journalists who attended the event.
The team from the Japanese port city also has former German international Lukas Podolski as a standout player, and is currently ranked sixth in the Japanese championship, which runs until December.
With his departure to the Asian country, the La Mancha footballer has followed in the footsteps of former Spanish internationals Txiki Beguiristain, Andoni Goikoetxea and Julio Salinas, who played in the J-League at the end of the 90s.
"ILLUSIATIONAL" PROJECT. Iniesta stated during the presentation that he opted for the Vissel Kobe offer because the project "excites him very much" and because Japan "is a wonderful country."
Iniesta said that his signing for the Japanese team "represents a very special challenge." "I have been lucky to have different proposals," said the man from La Mancha, who wanted to thank his new club for the "trust and blind faith" they have placed in him "as a player and as a person to be able to make the team grow."
"Iniesta will sign with Vissel Kobe after his historic career with FC Barcelona," said Japanese businessman Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of the e-commerce giant Rakuten, and also owner of the Japanese club through another of his companies. .
Mikitani praised the Barca youth team Binance App Users Data and Iniesta's "leadership", as well as the Spanish footballer's values and his "capacity for global influence", which will be "an inspiration for the club and for the entire league and Japanese society".
The Japanese tycoon added that the "methodology" of La Masia and Iniesta himself will be applied to the Japanese club's young footballer academy, which will collaborate in this regard with FC Barcelona.
The arrival in Japan of the legendary Barça number 8 had been anticipated by the national media several weeks ago and has generated enormous expectation in the Asian country, reflected in the more than two hundred Japanese journalists who attended the event.
The team from the Japanese port city also has former German international Lukas Podolski as a standout player, and is currently ranked sixth in the Japanese championship, which runs until December.
With his departure to the Asian country, the La Mancha footballer has followed in the footsteps of former Spanish internationals Txiki Beguiristain, Andoni Goikoetxea and Julio Salinas, who played in the J-League at the end of the 90s.
"ILLUSIATIONAL" PROJECT. Iniesta stated during the presentation that he opted for the Vissel Kobe offer because the project "excites him very much" and because Japan "is a wonderful country."
Iniesta said that his signing for the Japanese team "represents a very special challenge." "I have been lucky to have different proposals," said the man from La Mancha, who wanted to thank his new club for the "trust and blind faith" they have placed in him "as a player and as a person to be able to make the team grow."