![\"Iniesta](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/129860930_gettyimages-1439330066-696x392.jpg\" "\\"Iniesta")
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Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta will leave Vissel Kobe after five years at the Japanese club.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old will play his final match for the side on 1 July, midway through the J-League season.<\/p>\n
Iniesta, who has made just three substitute appearances so far this season for league leaders Vissel, has no plans to retire immediately.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI want to finish my time here properly and then see what options are available to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to keep playing and then retire while I\u2019m still active. That\u2019s difficult for me to do here, so I want to find a place where I can eventually retire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iniesta joined Vissel in 2018 and has made 133 appearances for the club, winning Japan\u2019s domestic Emperor\u2019s Cup in 2019 and the Japanese Super Cup the following year.<\/p>\n
That followed a 22-year career at Barcelona, where he won 32 trophies in 674 senior appearances.<\/p>\n
He said choosing to leave Vissel was \u201cone of the hardest decisions of my career\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always thought I would retire here, but things haven\u2019t gone as I wanted them to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past few months I\u2019ve trained hard with the intention of contributing to the team, but I started to feel that the coach had different priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
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