FC Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta has revealed his admiration for Real Madrid wonderkid Takefuso Kubo, who has been dubbed the "Japanese Lionel Messi".
Kubo, 18, spent four years at Barca's famous La Masia youth academy, but was forced to leave in 2015 after sanctions were imposed on the LaLiga outfit for signing underage players illegally, and returned to his homeland to play for FC Tokyo and then Yokohama F. Marinos.
He looked poised for a return to the Blaugrana in this window, but the two parties reportedly failed to reach an agreement, resulting in Los Blancos acting swiftly to secure his future on a deal worth a reported €1 million (R16.7 million) a season, according to Sport.
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Having impressed during Zinedine Zidane's side's pre-season tour of China thus far, Barca legend Andres Iniesta, who now plays for Vissel Kobe in Japan, has now given his opinion on the highly-rated starlet."I know Kubo because I played against him last season," he said, as per Marca.
"He's a very impressive talent and (has) a great future ahead of him. He's one of the world's young players who are gifted enough to earn a spot in the great clubs.
"Only time will tell if Barcelona end up regretting his move to Madrid. I guess the club just did not want him or maybe just things went the wrong way, but Barcelona is more important than a single player."
Kubo signed for Real's B team earlier in this transfer window, and is likely to spend the 2019/20 campaign with the Castilla side in a bid to get some minutes under his belt while reportedly being allowed to train with the first team.