Kagawa United
June 5, 2012
The only remaining hurdles for the deal are a medical evaluation for Kagawa and the necessary UK work permits, United said in a statement posted to its website.
Kagawa leaves Borussia Dortmund with one year left on his contract. It had been widely known United had been courting Kagawa. United's coach, Alex Ferguson, was on hand at the German Cup between Dortmund and Bayern Munich last month to personally get an impression of Dortmund's Japanese superstar.
Last season, Kagawa scored 13 goals and had 12 assists for Dortmund, who secured their first league-cup double.
According to German sporting magazine Kicker, United paid a 15 million euro ($18.7 million) transfer fee for Kagawa. When he came to Dortmund two seasons ago from Cerezo Osaka, Dortmund paid a transfer fee of 350,000 euros. Dortmund had already signed former Mönchengladbach player Marco Reus to fill in Kagawa's gap in the attacking midfield.
"We thank Shinji for his engagement and his very large role in two extraordinarily successful seasons that brought us two league titles and a German Cup," said Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc. "We wish Shinji all the best for the future."
Kagawa is currently with the Japanese national team playing in World Cup qualifiers. The team beat Oman 3-0 over the weekend.
Author: Matt Zuvela
Editor: Jane Mcintosh