Mallorca looking to go big in Japan thanks to Take Kubo
The LaLiga outfit have sent two employees to the Asian country to scout out opportunities as the Real Madrid loanee impresses.
'Kubomania' gripped the island of Mallorca when the 18-year old Japanese player arrived on loan from Real Madrid on 22 August this summer past. Interest in the midfielder soared, thanks to his Japanese origins and the skills he'd shown with Real Madrid on their summer tour of the USA.
Kubo a hit in Mallorca
Take Kubo fits in perfectly - he has no problems speaking Spanish, thanks to his time in the Barcelona youth set up and he's a dedicated member of the squad. Above and beyond football, the Japanese TV service Wowow has offered a dedicated channel focusing on the player since his arrival on the island, while two employees of Mallorca flew out to Japan at the start of September in search of new business opportunities related to their young Japanese star.
For his part, Take, as he prefers to be called, has settled into the centre of Palma de Mallorca, living the life of a simple lad who plays football. He lives with his mother, who has been at his side since the start of his adventures in Spain. She takes him to training at the Son Bibiloni grounds, as he is still learning to drive.
Take keeps a low profile, and is above all discrete, well-mannered and focused on his football. He's well aware of his job - to do the best he can for Mallorca. So far his time at the club has been interrupted twice thanks to being called up for Japan during the international breaks. In the first he played two games, a friendly against Paraguay and a qualifying match against Myanmar for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. In the most recent, he travelled 20,000 kilometres to play five minutes against Tajikistan, although he used that brief piece of play to produce a moment of sublime skill.
Having only trained twice with the Mallorca squad since his return it's expected he'll start on the bench against 'his' Real Madrid, but he may well get a chance, having already produced several outstanding moments in the Mallorca shirt: a penalty won, an effort off the post and a solid assist in addition to solid link-up play every time he's on the park.