Arab News Japan

After more than a decade in Europe that included spells at Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund, former Japan international Shinji Kagawa returned to the J-League with Cerezo Osaka on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old playmaker began his career with Cerezo before joining Dortmund in 2010 and helping Juergen Klopp’s side win two Bundesliga titles and one German Cup.

He moved to Manchester United in 2012 and won the Premier League in Alex Ferguson’s final season as manager, but fell out of favour under successor David Moyes and returned to Dortmund in 2014.

He won another German Cup there in 2017 and scored a total of 60 goals in over 200 appearances overall for the German club.

He then had spells in Turkey, Spain, Greece and Belgium, where he last played for Sint-Truiden.

Kagawa won 97 caps for Japan, scoring 31 goals and playing at two World Cups.

Cerezo finished fifth in last season’s J-League. The new season starts on February 17.