Japan national team midfielder Takefusa Kubo is receiving a love call from FC Barcelona, where he first learned soccer in Spain.
Spanish media ‘Eldesmarque’ reported on the 19th (Korean time), “Director Xavi has fallen in love with Gubo and will ask president Juan Laporta to recruit him.”
The media continued, “Coach Xabi knows that youth and talent are important factors in building a star-filled future for Barcelona. Big players are attractive, but he fell in love with Gubo’s football.”
Eldesmarque talked about Gubo’s career and mentioned why he is highly regarded. The media introduced Gubo’s career as a player, saying, “He played for Barcelona youth and was forced to leave the team in 2015. Eventually, he had to return to his home country, and Real Madrid took over him.”
He added, “Gubo, who was only renting in Real Madrid, moved to Real Sociedad and is having the best moment. He surprises people, and his dribbling is a great weapon, so Real Sociedad is showing good performance.” .
Kubo, who spent his youth in Barcelona’s youth team ‘La Masia’, was suddenly released and headed to FC Tokyo, Japan.
This is because Barcelona violated the rules of the International Football Federation (FIFA) that ‘in the case of a player under the age of 18, he cannot play in another country unless he has a parent’s job.
Due to this incident, Gubo, as well as Lee Seung-woo and Baek Seung-ho, could not participate in the youth league and had to either train or return to their home countries. 메이저사이트
Then, the club that took Kubo from FC Tokyo was Real Madrid, but Real also did not pour love into Kubo. He was checked by playing for the second team Castilla, but he did not make his debut in the first team and spent only four times on loan. In the end, Kubo moved to Real Sociedad ahead of this season and seized a new opportunity.
After transferring to Sociedad, Kubo developed into a starting player as his skills accumulated during his loan period were in full bloom. He has scored 4 goals and 3 assists in 19 appearances in La Liga this season, and is contributing a lot to the team’s offense based on his fast and threatening dribbles and outstanding performance.
As Kubo’s performance continued, coach Xavi is expected to show more interest in recruiting Gubo from La Masia. Since taking over as manager of Barcelona, Xavi has been using young players from La Masia, such as Alejandro Balde and Pablo Gavi, in the first team.
Eldesmarke predicted that the biggest obstacle to recruiting Gubo would be the transfer fee.
The media explained, “Gubo has a contract until 2027, and his buyout is 60 million euros (about 83 billion won). This is an amount that Barcelona cannot afford unless they sell important players.”
Barcelona have been plagued by financial problems since their debts were disclosed in 2021 and are having difficulties signing and registering players, making it difficult to pay large sums for the signing of Gubo.
An additional problem is Real Madrid. According to reports, Gubo’s transfer contract with Sociedad included a 50% Real sell-on clause (paying part of the transfer fee incurred when transferring to another club).
If Barcelona pays 60 million euros, half of 30 million euros (approximately 41.4 billion won) will go to Real Madrid. In other words, the recruitment of Kubo will increase the number of competitors, Real Madrid.
Attention is focusing on whether Gubo, who is being courted by coach Xavi based on Sociedad’s performance, will be able to overcome financial problems and Real’s gains and return to Barcelona, where he spent his childhood.