Soccer J1's Cerezo Osaka has officially announced that Shinji Kagawa, a former Japanese national team player who has participated in two World Cup tournaments and has been active in strong clubs in Germany and England, will return to the team for the first time in 12 and a half years.
According to Cerezo, Kagawa will join Sint-Truiden in the Belgian first division league as a permanent transfer.
Kagawa is 33 years old from Hyogo prefecture.
A midfielder who excels at scoring as well as dribbling opponents with delicate ball touches, he has scored 31 goals in 97 games for the Japanese national team. I have participated in two tournaments in Russia.
After playing for Cerezo for more than four years from 2006, he moved overseas and played an active role in European powerhouse clubs such as Dortmund in the German first division and Manchester United in the English Premier League.
He has been with Sint-Truiden since January last year, and will return to Cerezo for the first time in 12 and a half years.
Kagawa has continued to interact with Cerezo even while playing overseas, such as participating in Cerezo's off-season training, and Cerezo had offered him a return several years ago.
Also, Cerezo manager Akio Kogiku once invited Kagawa to Cerezo as a scout, creating the opportunity to start his professional career.
Kagawa is scheduled to hold a press conference on the 5th of this month.