2019/21 Shinji Kagawa @ Real Zaragoza (ESP)

I only saw few minutes of the first half, his passes and link-up play in the midfield was the main positive of this Zaragoza team.

Here is an extended video of Kagawa’s touches in the match:



They were defeated 0-4 by Real Madrid at their home ground.

 

Real Zaragoza secured their position in the promotion play-offs despite their 4-1 defeat against Albacete.

Almeria, and Girona already secured their places in the playoffs too.

While the last spot will go to one of the following teams: Fuenlabrada, Elche, or Rayo Vallecano.

Kagawa didn't play tonight, as he remained on the bench for the full match.

Zaragoza is in a horrible form, they are winless in the last 6 matches (5 defeats and 1 draw), and their record since the resumption of the league is: 2 wins - 1 draw - 7 defeats. They were 2nd in the league table before the disruption of the league due to COVID-19 crisis, and now they dropped to the 5th place.

Kagawa shall leave if they didn't achieve promotion.

 

They won tonight and finished the season in 3rd place.

A much needed win for the team after a 6-matches winless streak.

Kagawa, from what I saw, played on the left-side of the central midfield. It seems the coach at Zaragoza wanted to utilise Kagawa's passing skills from the deep midfield, as Kagawa was not impressive playing in attacking positions. He played the full match.

Finishing 3rd means they will face-off against the 6th-placed team (either Elche or Fuenlabrada), both are easier on paper than 4th and 5th place teams, Almeria and Girona, respectively.

Fuenlabrada's match against already-relegated Deportivo La Coruña is postponed because some Fuenlabrada players were tested positive COVID-19.
Most probaly the match will be played after 2 weeks at least, which will delay Zaragoza's play-off matches at least untill the first week of August.

 

Zaragoza drew 0-0 in the first leg of the promotion's play-offs semifinal vs. Elche.

The match was played at Elche's stadium, Zaragoza controlled the match and had more chances, with Kagawa having one of his best performances since his transfer to Spain. He created 5 chances and had 3 shots on goal.

Around the 60th minute he almost assisted a goal for Zaragoza, only for one of his teammates to squander the chance.

He was brought down in the penalty box later in the second half, but the referee refused to give Zaragoza a penalty kick.

If Kagawa played like this during the season, he would have been attracted interest from many Spanish top division clubs, but he had his ups and downs throughout the season, unlike Okazaki at Huesca.

If Zaragoza played like this in the second leg, they will surely win the tie and progress to the playoffs final (providing they will improve their finishing).

As for Kagawa's future, the word is that he will stay at Zaragoza if they are promoted, and if they don't, he will leave the club.

A move to Turkey is mentioned, and Hannover are said to be interested in getting him to help them build a strong team and gain promotion to the 1.Bundesliga.

 

Highlights:

 

Zaragoza lost the game 0-1 at their home stadium and are knocked out of the promotion race officially.

For the second match in a row they dominated the play, had more possession, more shots on goal, and more scoring opportunities.

Kagawa had a very good performance tonight as well, created scoring chances for his teammate, and almost scored Zaragoza's opener only to see his shot deflected by Elche's defender and hit the crossbar.

He will surely leave, and with at least his latest performances he can surely attract interest from La Liga's top division team.

 

La Liga's top division team = a team from Spanish top division.

 

He is linked to La Liga newly-promoted clubs; Cadiz and Huesca, both are reportedly keen to sign him.

A move to Turkey or Qatar are also suggested, while both Cerezo Osaka and Vissel Kobe want to bring him back to Japan.

https://t.co/aliIbV66IQ

 

According to Spanish newspaper AS, Shinji Kagawa is in negotiations with Real Zaragoza to terminate his contract in order to make it easy for him to transfer to another club.

Reports suggested that there clubs in Turkey and the Middle East interested in him.

https://as.com/futbol/2020/08/29/segunda/1598707382_682868.amp.html

 

A Spanish news site claimed Villarreal are interested in signing Shinji Kagawa from Real Zaragoza.

The article suggested that Villareal pushed Zaragoza to terminate Kagawa's contract and let him join them for free.

https://t.co/2sEkefYUeu

 

He is still in Japan, and will return to Spain tomorrow (Saturday), do the PCR test and rejoin his team pre-season training, which already started last week.

There are conflicting reports of Kagawa's situation from both parties:

From Zaragoza's side:

1- First, just few days after the team's failure to secure promotion, Zaragoza's SD claimed that they want to keep Kagawa and get the best out of him next season, as he thought that Kagawa was not properly utilised last season. However, the SD didn't rule out the possibility of a transfer to a team playing in the first division in Spain or somewhere else.
2- A week later, it was reported that Zaragoza not interested in keeping Kagawa, as his unfavourable record for the team doesn't justify his expensive wages. However, as only clubs from Middle East, Turkey, and USA are the ones willing to pay transfer fee to sign Kagawa, Zaragoza decided to let him leave for free, so he can get a chance of signing for clubs in Europe (Turkey excluded).

From Kagawa's side:

1- Immediately after the team's failure to earn promotion, some reports suggested that Kagawa wants to play first division football, and he is considering leaving Zaragoza.
2- Lately this week Kagawa admitted that he is willing to accept cutting in his wages in order to be able to stay at Zaragoza and help them to earn promotion in the 2020/2021 season, as he loved the atmosphere at Aragon, and wants to extend his stay there for at least a further year.

All this is said, nothing will be decided untill Kagawa return to Spain, and he and his agent discuss directly with Zaragoza and consider offers from other clubs.

A decision might be made by next midweek or next weekend.