(ANSA) – TOKYO, MAY 25 – The Spanish player Andres Iniesta will leave Vissel Kobe in the middle of the season, but at the age of 39 he is still postponing the decision on his future. The former world champion in 2010 with the Spanish national team has a contract until the end of the year with the Japanese team, currently at the top of the table, but has decided to terminate the contract by mutual consent after playing just 38 minutes this season – initially due to an injury, and in the face of a team’s performance that gradually improved, until it reached the top of the standings. Iniesta had arrived in Kobe in 2018 after nine years spent at Barcelona, with which he had won four Champions Leagues and nine times the Spanish championship. With Vissel he had signed a three-year contract valued at 30 million dollars, then extended by one year in May 2021. In Kobe he won the Emperor Cup in 2019 and reached the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League the following year. Domestically, however, the team controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani – owner of online trading site Rakuten – fell short of expectations, narrowly escaping relegation last season.
Visibly moved during the conference, Iniesta admitted that he had changed his mind about his hypothetical retirement from football – which initially should have taken place in Japan, and that he wanted to consider other options once the experience in Kobe was over. His last match for Vissel will be the one played at home against Consadole Sapporo on July 1st. (HANDLE).
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