Messi, Neymar, Piqué and Arda start pre-season in Japan
Barcelona's big stars, plus Arda Turan, are travelling to Japan to present the new sponsorship deal with Rakuten.
The pre-season for Messi, Neymar, Piqué and Arda Turan won't start on the training pitches at Sant Joan Despí, but in Tokyo, where they'll be the face of the Catalan club in the presentation of the sponsorship deal with Rakuten, the new principal sponsor of Barça for the next four years.
Barcelona's stars: big in Japan
According to the club, the three Barça stars plus Turan, who isn't in Valverde's plans for the coming season, will arrive in Japan between today and tomorrow and then have a busy schedule planned in the Asian country, while their teammates are back in Barcelona, starting training alongside the new coach.
Barça sponsorship deal official presentation
On Wednesday, the players, alongside Manel Arroy, Marketing and Communication vice-president (surprisingly club president Bartomeu didn't make the trip) have a private meeting with Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of Rakuten, before the press conference to officially launch the partnership on Thursday.