Vissel Kobe on Tuesday announced a two-year contract extension with captain Andres Iniesta, ensuring that the Spanish superstar will remain in the country he considers his “second home” until the end of the 2023 season.
The signing ceremony — which was followed by a cake celebrating Iniesta’s 37th birthday — took place less than two weeks after the midfield maestro returned to the pitch from an injury suffered during last December’s Asian Champions League.
“Three years ago ... (Iniesta) said he was coming to Kobe not as a player, but to write a new history for the club in Japan and in Asia,” Vissel president and Rakuten founder Hiroshi Mikitani said during a news conference at the Prince Park Tower in Tokyo's Minato Ward.