Remember Takefusa Kubo, the young Japanese playmaker who was often called the new Leo Messi?
Spoiler: he is not having the best of times.
Take was part of La Masia between 2011 and 2015. He had to leave the club as Barca were imposed a transfer ban for breaking transfer regulations. Kubo signed for Real Madrid in 2019.
Since then, the promising playmaker has been loaned out to multiple La Liga clubs 4 times. Despite having had some amazing performances on loan, none of these spells was a success.
At the same time, Kubo clearly remains a promising asset despite being 21 years of age already. He had a few inspiring performances at the Tokyo Olympics; besides, only 9 La Liga players made more shot-creating actions than him this season – and this despite Kubo acting as a super-sub quite often.
Real Madrid are now expected to sell him. Firstly, the Japanese is still not the first-team material; secondly, even if the Whites wanted to play him, they would be unable to do it as Kubo occupies a non-EU slot (the three slots are already occupied by Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Eder Militao).
We may imagine the 21-year-old join some newly-promoted La Liga side this summer – or maybe even experience Segunda division. Anyway, his lack of progress reminds us of Riqui Puig's situation.
