"Asia's No. 1 ransom" Big Club's Endless Courts

Big European clubs are constantly courting Takefusa Real Sociedad, who is the No. 1 player in Asian ransom. Not only Premier League teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but also Italian Juventus are keeping an eye on Gubo.

"Gubo received an interesting offer. He has already made a decision," Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo said on Monday. "Currently, the two players who are receiving the most attention are Gubo and Martin Subimendi. Sociedad is trying to protect the two players."

"According to our understanding, Gubo is drawing attention not only from Saudi Arabia's Al-Nasr, where Premier League Liverpool, Manchester United, and Cristiano Ronaldo play, but also from Italy's Juventus, a prestigious Serie A team," he added.

Japanese striker Kubo has been recognized early on throughout Spain`s prestigious professional leagues such as Barcelona and Real Madrid. He joined Barcelona`s youth team in 2011 at age 10 and trained through 2015.

He left Barcelona for the J-League due to FIFA's disciplinary action. After successfully continuing his growth there, Gubo was given a chance to move to Barcelona's rival team Real. In 2019, Real's second team Castile hired Gubo, and Gubo challenged the Spanish stage again.

It was not easy to survive at Real Madrid. At that time, there were many world-class superstars such as Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, and talented Brazilian prospects such as Hodrigo and Vinicius Junior joined, so there were few opportunities to return to Gubo.

As Kubo faced difficulties entering the main league, he tried to secure an opportunity to play through loan. He moved to Villarreal, Mallorca, and Getafe on loan. During the second season of Mallorca, he shared a room with Lee Kang-in, who is currently transferred to Paris Saint-Germain.

In the summer of 2022, he moved to Sociedad completely and chose to leave Real Madrid. Gubo has been a part of Sociedad. He played in 35 games in the league alone last season, scoring nine goals and four assists, as a key ace in his team. He was named the Sociedad Player of the Year and was recognized by fans as well.

He is continuing his activities this season as well. Prior to being drafted to the Asian Cup, he fully played a key role with six goals and three assists in 18 league matches, and also contributed one assist in the UEFA Champions League, leading Sociedad to the round of 16 strongest teams in its group.

As he continued to play in La Liga and the Champions League, his price soared. According to German transfer market site Transfer Markt, Kubo has become the No. 1 Asian player with 60 million euros in ransom, which was renewed ahead of the January transfer market. He beat both Kim Min-jae and Tottenham Hotspur Captain Son Heung-min, who left Napoli to join Bayern Munich last summer.

Big clubs also paid keen attention to him. Manchester United has selected Gubo as its next-generation winger instead of Antony, who has been showing off little performance since moving from Ajax. Liverpool is also reportedly considering Gubo in preparation for the departure of Mohamed Salah. Alnasr, where Ronaldo plays, also reportedly sent an astronomical proposal to Gubo.

Matteo Moreto, a reporter from Lelebo, Spain, said, "What I can say about Gubo is that there was a proposal from the Saudis, but Gubo declined. Gubo has also declined by Premier League clubs. He is not leaving this January. He is focusing on Japan and the Asian Cup, and he is not thinking about anything other than wrapping up his season in Sociedad."

However, things can change in the summer. Moreto said, "In the summer, it can be a lot different. Several clubs are likely to make huge offers to Gubo. Discussions will be brisk as the summer approaches, including a €60 million buyout clause," he added.

In the meantime, fierce competition is expected in the transfer market this summer as even Italy's prestigious Juventus is considering recruiting Gubo.  스포츠토토

Mundo Deportivo also said, "There is no 100% guarantee. Unless unexpected radical events occur during the rest of the transfer market, it is expected to remain as it is now. However, it will not be easy for Sociedad to maintain its Gubo and defensive mentality this summer."