Vissel Kobe have confirmed that 19-year-old Takuya Iwanami has signed professional forms with the club. The 186 cm centre back captained Japan’s U18 team at the U17 World Cup last summer and had been sought by various European clubs. The player even went as far as training and discussions with Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in May of this year, but has, perhaps, been convinced by new Vissel coach Alira Nishino that his future is in Japan as Vissel rebuild a young team with a view to challenging for an ACL place, a championship and the ACL trophy itself within five years – just as Nishino did with Gamba Osaka!

We welcome Iwanami to the professional ranks and wish him a successful career.