Spain and FC Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta (39) will break up with Vissel Kobe in the Japanese J1 League.

Japan’s NHK reported on the 23rd that “Iniesta, a former Spanish national midfielder, will leave Kobe this summer.”메이저놀이터

Iniesta played 16 seasons for Barcelona and played in 669 games, winning 32 trophies, including four UEFA Champions League (UCL) and nine La Liga titles. In the summer of 2018, he left his 22-year-old team and moved to Kobe. In his first season, he lifted the Emperor’s Cup trophy, and in the 2021 season, he ranked third in the league, the best performance in the club’s history.

Kobe, who was doing well, replaced the head coach one after another as he fell into a slump last season. Under the system of coach Takayuki Yoshida, who took the helm for the third time in June last year, he succeeded in rebounding by changing the composition of the members. Iniesta’s playing time gradually decreased.

Kobe is currently in the lead after finishing the 14th round of the league this season. Iniesta played only 38 minutes in three games.

Barcelona, Iniesta’s hometown, will visit Japan for the first time in four years on the 6th of next month. They face Kobe. The media reported that the match was a farewell match for Iniesta.

Iniesta will hold a press conference in the near future to reveal why it decided to leave Kobe and its future course of action.