End of an era: Shinji Kagawa to call time on 13 year European adventure and return to the J League | OneFootball

As reported by Het Nieuwsblad, experienced Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa is set to return to the J League, 13 years after leaving Cerezo Osaka to join Borussia Dortmund. The 33-year-old joined Sint-Truiden last January but looks set to end his time in Belgium after just one year. So far this season, Kagawa has scored twice in 12 appearances.

Unfortunately injuries have plagued his time with the Canaries, with Kagawa unable to feature as often as he would like. Now it looks like he will be returning to Japan for the final few seasons of his career.

The former Dortmund and Manchester United player will leave Europe having won a number of major trophies. He was twice a cup winner with Dortmund, as well as part of their back to back title winning sides of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012. He won the premier league in 2013 with Manchester United and the Greek cup in 2021 with PAOK Thessaloniki.

While one Japanese player is departing Sint-Truiden, they did recently sign another, with Taichi Hara returning for a second loan spell with the club.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson