On July 12th, Barcelona announced the transfer of Hiroki Abe, the Kashima Antlers and Japanese national team attacking midfielder.
The Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” reported the details of the deal.
Abe’s transfer will amount to an annual fee of €1.1m with a three-year contract, and an option to extend for a further two years.
Here are his last words to his beloved club Kashima Antlers before leaving:
“After graduating to high school I was chosen by Kashima Antlers and I lived there for two and a half years. Thanks to this wonderful team I was able to grow as a professional soccer player and also as a man.”
“My teammates, coaching staff, front staff, supporters, and all of the ‘Kashima Family’ have always fought for the victory. They are my pride and an inestimable treasure.”
“It was an hard decision to leave the team in the middle of the league but I decided to join Barcelona. I strongly wanted to join this new fight.”
“I’ll probably encounter a ‘big wall’ of difficulties in front of me. Anyways, this will be really important to me to go to the next step.”
“Based on everything I experienced at the Kashima Antlers club, from now on I would live every day, every moment of my life facing football itself. I’m really thankful to all of you.”
The attacker joins Barcelona after being included in Japan’s 2019 Copa America squad and is expected to be a major part of the team for the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. His development in one of the world’s biggest clubs will be watched eagerly by fans back home.