Iniesta to leave Japan's Kobe but determined to play on
KOBE: Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta said Thursday he will make an early exit from Japanese side Vissel Kobe but intends to keep playing aged 39. The Spanish World Cup winner's contract with Vissel runs until the end of the year but a tearful Iniesta said he will leave in July after seeing little action this season. Iniesta has made only three substitute appearances totalling 38 minutes this term for Vissel, who are three points clear at the top of the table. The midfield maestro said he did not know where his next move would be, but ruled out retiring. Widely considered one of the greatest players of his generation, he has been linked with a non-playing role at Barcelona. "First I want to finish my time here properly and then see what options are available to me," he told reporters, pausing to wipe away tears at times. "I want to keep playing and then retire while I'm still active. That's difficult for me to do here, so I want to find a place where I can eventually retire."
Iniesta joined Vissel in 2018 after making more than 600 appearances for Barcelona, where he won the Champions League four times and claimed nine La Liga titles.
He signed a three-year deal with Vissel on a reported annual salary of $30 million, which he extended in May 2021.
Iniesta won Japan's domestic Emperor's Cup in 2019 and led Vissel to the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League a year later.
But the team were embroiled in a relegation battle last season and fired a succession of coaches before eventually finishing 13th in the 18-team division.
Iniesta said leaving Vissel was "one of the hardest decisions of my career".
"I always thought I would retire here, but things haven't gone as I wanted them to," he said.
"For the past few months I've trained hard with the intention of contributing to the team, but I started to feel that the coach had different priorities."
Iniesta will play for Vissel in a friendly against Barcelona at Tokyo's National Stadium on June 6.
His final match will be a home game against Consadole Sapporo in the J-League on July 1.
相关推荐
-
Where to pre
-
Prosecutors reopen 1980s murder case
-
Essential Phone review: Super slick, but not an iPhone or Pixel killer
-
The FrontRow is a livestreaming camera that you wear on your neck
-
Best CPU Deals, AMD vs Intel: Holiday CPU Buying Guide
-
Download this: Off the Menu Club is the answer to all your foodie prayers
- 最近发表
-
- 7 Reasons to Explore Boston’s Lesser
- Photos of Google's new Pixel tablet leak before its October event
- 天然绿色放养,清远瑶家花邀您品鉴优质猪肉!
- [Newsmaker] Singer Kim Gun
- Kamala Harris’ ridiculous problem with the political press.
- The FrontRow is a livestreaming camera that you wear on your neck
- Your selfies won't look like shit anymore with an Android phone
- 汕尾16个产品入围深圳消费帮扶“百强好产品”名单
- We Cannot Live Without Cryptography!
- Download this: Off the Menu Club is the answer to all your foodie prayers
- 随机阅读
-
- Alcaraz, Sinner survive US Open wobbles
- Google will launch a smaller, cheaper Google Home, report says
- Cheer us to the title from home, Klopp urges Liverpool fans
- YouTube has a surprising number of illegally streamed TV shows
- Anatomy of a Keyboard
- Korean Chinese still largest group of foreign residents in S. Korea
- 安全好吃,必享原味邀您12月11
- Trump declares Kavanaugh 'proven innocent', internet calls him out
- 广东超一半的北运淡水鱼来自这里!全链发力打响“南海鱼”金字招牌
- Will Twitter suspend Trump for his threatening North Korea tweets?
- Photos of Google's new Pixel tablet leak before its October event
- Korean Chinese still largest group of foreign residents in S. Korea
- Garmin Fenix 8 vs. Apple Watch Ultra: The Fenix wins big on battery life
- US sends another surveillance plane over S. Korea: aviation tracker
- New chiefs of three key govt. agencies appointed
- 查你没商量 3辆危化品运输车“组团”超载
- Trump won't stop making a deceptive bird claim. Experts debunk it.
- Bayern missing Mueller, Lewandowski for potential title
- Your selfies won't look like shit anymore with an Android phone
- Sarri targets first Juventus trophy against former club Napoli
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-