Juan Mata Transfer: Amid regular transfer updates of a European player moving to the Saudi Pro League, a big player decided to pick Japan over Saudi. Former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata is reportedly set to follow Andre Iniesta’s footsteps and move to Japan’s football league. This is no less than a surprise when maximum players are opting for Saudi clubs.
As per the fresh report of The Athletic, the 35-year-old midfielder Juan Mata made a choice over Japan instead of Saudi clubs. He rejected all offers from Saudi and UAE. The World Cup winner is joining Japanese club Vissel Kobe. He recently played for Galatasaray and got decent offers from Saudi Arabia and Dubai. The Former Chelsea man decided to play in the J-League and live in the culture of Japan.
Juan Mata is following his former Spain international, Andres Iniesta. He also played for the same club in Japan until earlier this year. His other ex-colleague, David Villa was part of Vissel Kobe in 2019. Mata is following in the footsteps of his former teammates and wants to play in Japan only.
Somehow, it’s not a bad sign when other players are trying to choose non-European nations. It helps out those countries and we earlier saw how Japan improved in world football. They are currently the best Asian side in football. Players want to explore the new heights of the game and they want to play in the new culture.
Mata has to wait for his debut with Kobe. He is likely to miss the clash against Kyoto Sanga in the J-League on Sunday. The 35-year-old may play his first game for Kobe on September 16 against Sanfrecce away from home. It would be a good thing for the Japanese club and Mata’s arrival will help them to improve the club structure. Japan is slowly becoming a hub for football and recently, teams came here to play pre-season games.
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