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Photo: junipersports.com

Takefusa Kubo (久保 建英, Kubo Takefusa) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish club Villarreal, on loan from Real Madrid and the Japanese national team.

Early life and family background Takefusa Kubo

Takefusa Kubo was born on the 4th of June, 2001 to his father, Takefumi Kubo, and mother in the industrial city of Kawasaki, a Japanese city famous for its baseball, field athletics, soccer, indoor facilities, cycling, and horse racing.

He hailed from the middle-class family background. Takefusa grew up as the only child to his parents, having no brother or sister.

Growing around a sports-loving dad and living in a soccer-crazy city created a natural tendency for him to fall in love with this King sport. Early on, he saw himself being naturally gifted with that cruise control ability on the ball.

Club career Takefusa Kubo

Early career

At the age of seven, Takefusa Kubo started playing football for FC Persimmon, a local club based in his home city Kawasaki. In August 2009, he was awarded MVP at FC Barcelona Soccer Camp in which he participated at the age of eight. In April 2010, he was selected as a member of the FC Barcelona School team and participated in Sodexo European Rusas Cup held in Belgium. He was awarded MVP even though his team finished third. After returning home, he began to play for the Kawasaki Frontale junior youth team.

Barcelona

In August 2011, Takefusa Kubo had been invited to join FC Barcelona’s youth Academy, La Masia, after passing the trial. He began to play for Barca Aleví C (U11). During his first full season (2012–13), he was the top goalscorer in the league with 74 goals in 30 games. In his third full season (2014–15), he was promoted to Barca Infantil A (U14). But the Spanish club was later found to have violated FIFA’s international transfer policy for under-18 youths, making Kubo ineligible to play for the club. He returned to Japan in March 2015 in search of playing time, signing with FC Tokyo’s junior youth team.

Tokyo

Takefusa Kubo joined the FC Tokyo U-18 team in 2016. In September 2016, he was promoted to the senior side at the age of fifteen. On 5 November, he made his formal debut for the reserve team in the J3 League as a halftime sub for the match against AC Nagano Parceiro. He made his professional debut at the J.League record of 15 years, 5 months, and one day.

Yokohama F. Marinos (loan)

On 16 August 2018, he joined Yokohama F. Marinos on a half-year loan.[6] He immediately scored on his debut with Marinos in an away game against Vissel Kobe. From the start of the 2019 season, Kubo became a regular starter for FC Tokyo in both the J.League YBC Levain Cup and J.League scoring goals in both competitions.

Real Madrid

On 14 June 2019, Kubo signed with Spanish club Real Madrid on a five-year deal. Although registered with their U-19 team, he had been expected to mainly play for Real Madrid B during the 2019–20 season. However, he featured regularly with the first team during Real Madrid's pre-season tour of the United States and Germany.

Mallorca (loan)

On 22 August 2019, Kubo joined RCD Mallorca on a season-long loan. He has become the third Japanese player in Mallorca's history after Yoshito Okubo and Akihiro Ienaga. On 1 September, he made his La Liga debut playing 15 minutes in a 2–0 loss to Valencia. He became the youngest Japanese player in the Top 4 European league history.

Villarreal (loan)

On 10 August 2020, he was loaned to Villarreal CF until the end of the 2020–21 season.

International career of Takefusa Kubo

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Photo: fifa.com

Takefusa Kubo has been involved in Japan national teams from U-15 to senior level. At the age of fifteen, he was selected to the Japan U-20 national team for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Shortly before turning eighteen, he was named in the squad for the 2019 Copa América, which marked his first call up to the senior squad. He made his debut on 9 June 2019 in a friendly against El Salvador, as a 67th-minute substitute for Takumi Minamino.

Kubo position and style

Kubo is a versatile player who can play any attacking position. Nevertheless, playing centrally seems to suit him the most. But Kubo’s left foot is his greatest asset and to call it magical, mercurial would be even an understatement. His first touch, control, and vision are impeccable. He is that kind of player who chips in with defense splitting passes, not once but severally. And one thing for sure is that he has a bright future ahead of him.

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