This face is Takefusa Kubo, a 22-year-old winger currently playing for Real Sociedad. Kubo is having a memorable season with La Real, scoring 5 goals and providing 3 assists in 13 appearances.
Kubo first came to Spain in 2011, when Barcelona scouts found this rough gem. He trained at La Masia for several years, before having to return to Japan in 2015 because of FIFA sanctions on the Barcelona youth team.
Kubo is playing very well at Real Sociedad.
After two years without playing, Kubo left Barcelona for Japan with the clear intention of returning to the Catalan club when he turned eighteen. During his time in Japan, he joined Tokyo FC and was also called up to the Japanese national team.
However, according to Mundo Deportivo, realizing the potential that Kubo can achieve, his agent wants to renegotiate the terms to bring the player back to Barcelona. Most important, he wanted a guarantee that Kubo would be a player of Barca’s first team.
This is unacceptable for Barcelona. The Catalan team left the negotiating table because of this unreasonable request. Real Madrid immediately made an offer with an outstanding salary for the young Japanese player.
In the summer of 2019, Real Madrid announced the signing of Kubo. However, his time at Real Madrid did not go as planned because of the brilliance of two other young players, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo Goes.
Dang Nguyen | 18:37 November 1, 2023
