{"id":291006,"date":"2023-09-03T20:49:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=291006"},"modified":"2023-09-03T20:49:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T20:49:09","slug":"juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/","title":{"rendered":"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Juan Mata signs for J-League club Vissel Kobe in Japan as he follows in Spanish compatriot Andres Iniesta&#8217;s footsteps&#8230; as former Spain midfielder announces &#8216;I&#8217;m here!&#8217;<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Juan Mata, 35, announced his move to the Japanese J-League side Vissel Kobe\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He follows in compatriot Andres Iniesta&#8217;s footsteps with move to J-League side\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mata joins the club after an illustrious career at Chelsea and Manchester United\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Juan Mata has joined Japanese club Vissel Kobe on a free transfer after winning the title with Turkish Super Lig side Galatasaray last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old World Cup-winning midfielder was announced on X, formerly Twitter, as the club&#8217;s new signing. He will wear number 64 on his shirt for the Japanese side.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The former Chelsea and Manchester United star took to social media to express his excitement on joining the club.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I&#8217;m here!&#8217; He penned.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;New beginnings! Thanks for the incredible welcome, Japan! I\u2019m here! I\u2019ve always been a big admirer if this country and its culture, and it\u2019s time to enjoy it here in Kobe.\u00a0Grateful to everyone that made it possible. I will try my best to try to win another league title, we are in the race!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/15\/75011627-12475575-image-a-62_1693751316785.jpg\" height=\"345\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The former Chelsea and Manchester United star expressed his excitement on joining the club<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/14\/75010411-12475575-image-a-4_1693746108006.jpg\" height=\"371\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 35-year-old World Cup-winning midfielder was announced on X, formerly Twitter, as the club&#8217;s new signing. He will wear the number 64 on his new shirt for the Japanese side<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/12\/74988069-12475575-Long_serving_Manchester_United_midfielder_Juan_Mata_announced_he-a-1_1693742022218.jpg\" height=\"413\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Long-serving Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata announced he was leaving in 2022<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/12\/74988081-12475575-Chelsea_s_Fernando_Torres_right_and_Juan_Mata_left_pose_with_the-a-2_1693742028881.jpg\" height=\"379\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Chelsea&#8217;s Fernando Torres (right) and Juan Mata (left) pose with the Champions League and Europa League trophy from 2012 and 2013 as they celebrated with the west London club<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Thank you football for allowing me to live such amazing life experiences!<\/p>\n<p>Mata joins the Japanese top-flight club in a bid to win the league, as they currently sit at the top of the table.<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder received tempting offers from Saudi Arabia and Dubai, but\u00a0<span>decided to embrace the J-League and explore life in Japan while aiming for fresh titles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>His fellow former international teammate, Andres Iniesta made the same move in 2018, spending five years at the J-League side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Iniesta made over 130 appearances for Vissel Kobe and scored 26 goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He then moved to the Emirates club in the UAE on a free transfer, who are currently ranked 11th in the Arabian Gulf League.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Another compatriot, David Villa, also enjoyed a year in Japan in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/03\/14\/75010851-12475575-image-a-5_1693747437730.jpg\" height=\"380\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The midfielder received tempting offers from Saudi Arabia and Dubai , but decided to embrace the J-League and explore life in Japan while aiming for fresh titles towards the end of his career<\/p>\n<p>Mata began his senior career at Real Madrid in 2006, and went on to join the Premier League in 2011 after a three-year stint at Chelsea, before transferring to Manchester United.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With Chelsea, he helped the team win the Champions League and FA Cup in 2012, as well as the Europa League a year later.<\/p>\n<p>After moving to Manchester United, he joined Louis Van Gaal&#8217;s side for a record fee of \u00a337.1million.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12475575\/Juan-Mata-welcomed-J-League-Vissel-Kobe-follows-Spanish-compatriot-Andres-Iniestas-footsteps-star-announced-clubs-new-signing.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Juan Mata signs for J-League club Vissel Kobe in Japan as he follows in Spanish compatriot Andres Iniesta&#8217;s footsteps&#8230; as <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&amp;apos;s new signing - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&amp;apos;s new signing - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Juan Mata signs for J-League club Vissel Kobe in Japan as he follows in Spanish compatriot Andres Iniesta&#8217;s footsteps&#8230; as &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Juan-Mata-announced-as-the-J-League-side-Vissel-Kobeaposs-new-signing.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/\",\"name\":\"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Soccer\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing - Sportstons","og_description":"Juan Mata signs for J-League club Vissel Kobe in Japan as he follows in Spanish compatriot Andres Iniesta&#8217;s footsteps&#8230; as &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Juan-Mata-announced-as-the-J-League-side-Vissel-Kobeaposs-new-signing.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/","name":"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-03T20:49:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/juan-mata-announced-as-the-j-league-side-vissel-kobes-new-signing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Soccer","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/soccer\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Juan Mata announced as the J-League side Vissel Kobe&apos;s new signing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291006"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}