Kubo: “I thought Real Madrid might not even talk to me”

Take Kubo is happy in San Sebastián, a city which he freely admits is more beautiful than his hometown, Kawasaki. “It is a city in Kanagawa, a little like Sant Cugat in Barcelona, more or less. It is by the sea, but it’s not very pretty, it’s not like here. I much prefer Donostia,” assured the Real Sociedad player in an interview with Noticias de Gipuzkoa.

The young Japanese player gave an insight into how he ended up in Spain, starting out at Barcelona’s youth academy only to sign for Real Madrid. “I enrolled on a campus in Japan. I was chosen as the best player, so I was taken to a tournament with Barça’s accademy in Spain and there they also declared me the best player and they let me try out with Barça. And it went very well, I was very happy,” he explained.

Kubo remembers that experience perfectly. “We had a very good team: Ansu, Eric, Adrián Bernabé, Mortimer… It was a very good group and every game was about who could score the most goals because victory was almost assured. I got along very well with the players, it was a family group, we all had a very good relationship and the parents of the players treated me very well”, he continued.

UEFA ban

But the dream was soon over. Kubo could not stay at La Masía due to a UEFA sanction. “I still don’t understand why a boy who likes to play football, goes to another country and is banned from playing. That doesn’t happen in tennis. I don’t understand that rule, but that’s the way it is and you can’t do anything,” he added.

Then it was time for him to make a decision. Kubo narrates how he opted for Real Madrid - but first he had to wait until he was 18 years old. “I was at the Copa América and at that moment Madrid came to talk to me. But I didn’t have time to decide, because I had games to play and as soon as it was over, the pre-season would start. So in the end, I chose Madrid.”

And it turned out much better than he expected. “I thought that they wouldn’t even talk to me, but people who reach a very top level, as people, also become great. They have that point of tranquility, and for a young player who is starting out, that they take care of him so well, it’s very good,“ he assured.