Andres Iniesta set to leave Japanese club in emotional announcement

Andres Iniesta in his first season at Vissel Kobe

Andres Iniesta set to leave Japanese club in emotional announcement Credit:Tam Tam Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Andres Iniesta, now 39, made an emotional statement on May  25, as he plans to leave his Japanese club Vissel Kobe mid-season. With the legendary Spanish midfielder having only played three times this campaign, he admits he isn’t ready to hang up his boots quite yet.

Iniesta seems to have hit a low point in his highly decorated career. As a world cup winner and four times Champions League winner with Barcelona, where he won 30 major trophies, being sidelined, even at 39, simply isn’t good enough.

He joined the current J League leaders, Vissel Kobe from Barcelona in 2018, but being sidelined in their best season so far has left him with an anxiety to be back on the pitch.

In an emotionally charged press conference, Iniesta made his intentions clear that he was still eager to be playing full-time football, and will make his exit mid-season.

Barca Buzz said on Twitter: “Vissel Kobe have confirmed that after 5 years with the club, Andres Iniesta will be leaving through mutual agreement this summer. He will continue his career elsewhere.”

The ‘elsewhere’ of his next move is unclear, but he is determined that he still belongs on a pitch somewhere. In the press conference, he was quoted by the Mail as saying:

“‘I want to keep playing football. I feel like I am capable of still playing, but as this chapter closes, we’ll see what’s possible. I want to finish my career on the pitch playing, and this is what I’m hoping to do.”

He fought back tears saying: “It’s a very emotional day after so many years. I tried to give my best on and off the pitch. I am very proud of that.”

In his 133 appearances at Vissel Kobe since 2018, they have won Emperor’s Cup and the Japanese Super Cup. Now, with rumours but no confirmation of middle eastern football, we await news on the next move of legendary Spanish footballer Andres Iniesta.

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Written by

David Laycock

Dave Laycock has always written. Poems, songs, essays, academic papers as well as newspaper articles; the written word has always held a great fascination for him and he is never happier than when being creative. From a musical background, Dave has travelled the world performing and also examining for a British music exam board. He also writes, produces and performs and records music. All this aside, he is currently fully focussed on his journalism and can’t wait to share more stories from around the world and beyond.

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