Why did Real Madrid want this Japanese teenager?

On the evening of June 14, Spanish giants Real Madrid announced that 19-year-old rising star Takefusa Kubo had joined the club on a five-year contract, starting with Castillo B.

In fact, it was only on the morning of the 14th that kubo, a player from the la Marcia youth academy, was transferred to real Madrid, which has been successful in the transfer market.

Asian players are no longer the preserve of smaller teams. In the past 10 years, park ji-sung,

Makoto Hasebe, Shinji Kagawa , Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki, Son Heung-min, those Asia star in Europe have been varying degrees of success. But it will come as a surprising thing to have the Primera Liga giants sign a new Asian star who has never proved himself in Europe. But after watching kubo play, it may be clear why real Madrid, which has put so much emphasis on youth strategy in recent years, chose to bet on the 18-year-old.

Kubo is very similar to kagawa in terms of body size, but in fact the positions and styles of the two players are quite different. Kubo is more like a combination of kagawa and Honda. Compared to kagawa, who is good at playing in small areas up front, kubo's range is very large.He likes to get the ball in midfield and push it forward. Kubo's better position on the pitch is in the front half(CAM), as a true playmaker. But the trend in football today, very few teams will actually set up a central midfield to organize the series, which requires such players to have a certain wide movement ability. Kubo is no surprise, too, as he is often placed on the wing during matches.Therefore, it is reasonable for the media to refer to him as "Japanese Messi". Messi is like a free man in front of the court in the game, who can play his attacking talents to the greatest extent.

As a player developed by lamasia, kubo is a master of technique. Although he doesn't have extreme speed, he is very good at using the change of pace to get rid of defenders around him, especially against big opponents.

He has a very broad vision and a very good view of the big picture, which he developed in Lamasia. Most of the time, we will find that in the J league, teammates will not be able to follow his thoughts and consciousness.

If there's a downside to kubo, it's the body. As an Asian player, the body is a permanent hurdle in adapting to European football. In fact, the reason he left Tokyo briefly last year was that team coach kentaji hasegawa required players to be actively involved in defense, but kubo's small body was temporarily unable to meet the coach's requirements. That requires kubo to be careful not to let his technical prowess be overshadowed by his struggles. It's a gradual process.

The idea that kubo joined real Madrid to sell shirts and appeal to Asian fans is too one-sided.If real Madrid really just wanted to sign a mascot to market in Asia, it could have done with an already famous Japanese star.

Real Madrid's youth strategy is just as vital to winning the battle for talent against Barcelona and Paris as it is to showing enough sincerity (a million euros a year).

ESPN, a prominent media outlet, sees kubo as the future of a team as important as odergaard and vinicius.Since joining Real Madrid in 2015, the Norwegian ace has invested in young talent including Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Vinicius (Brazil) and Rodrigo (Brazil) over the past few years.

Kubo can come to real Madrid, not only for his personal ability recognition, but also a good training opportunity. Of course, it depends on kubo's personal efforts whether he can make his mark at real Madrid and one day represent the club's first team.Real Madrid, after all, are not a team that lavishes youngsters with training opportunities.

So, for now, kubo will face a huge challenge. Castilla, currently led by real Madrid legend raul gonzalez, could be permanently shut out of the first team if he fails to match his impressive performances at la Marcia.

But kubo has an age-appropriate poise, perhaps because he played abroad so early.We rarely see him flustered on the pitch, and even after his international debut, kubo remains calm.Calm and calm, will become his peers when competition, to win the magic weapon.

Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takefusa_Kubo

https://therealchamps.com/2019/07/01/around-the-bernabeu-here-comes-real-madrids-japanese-prince/

https://www.football-espana.net/78986/real-madrid-include-takefusa-kubo-pre-season