It's official: Takefusa Kubo is joining Real Madrid, not Barcelona. Los Blancos announced their latest signing on Friday, revealing that they beat their bitter rival to the Japanese wonderkid.
The Asian starlet will make the move to the Spanish capital from Tokyo FC. Five years is the duration of the contract that he will put pen to paper with. This will come as a huge blow to the Blaugrana as they were interested in bringing him to Catalonia.
Kubo had been part of Barcelona's youth team until 2015 but was forced to return to Japan due to the FIFA ban over irregularities in signing international minors. Now that the player is 18 and free to return to Europe, the Spanish Primera Division champion was hopeful of regaining his services.
The Japanese wonderkid is yet another player the Blaugrana missed out to Real Madrid. Previously, Valverde's side witnessed former target Luka Jovic agree to join Santiago Bernabeu.
Kubo, despite his talent, is a signing for the future and will join Real Madrid Castilla next season. Furthermore, this deal will cost the Madrid giant $2.5M, with the player set to pocket $1.3M annually.
