Kagawa was supposed to be a Manchester United star, after being sacked from PAOK Thessaloniki he headed to Belgium

It was the summer of 2012. Manchester United and Chelsea fought over Eden Hazard, Chelsea won the fight. However, the Red Devils acquired the skilful Japanese from Dortmund for a much lower price. Shinji Kagawa was to become one of the faces of a new era. But it never happened. Almost 10 years later, he’s about to embark on an adventure in Belgium.

Shinji Kagawa has been one of Japan’s greatest talents over the last few years. He was brought to Europe by Borussia Dortmund in 2010. The talented and creative offensive midfielder immediately made his way into the lineup, and had an above-expectation first season, but unfortunately an injury spoiled it for him.

But he made up for it in the second one. He scored goals, passed them on, created one chance after another for his teammates. You could hardly find a better offensive midfielder at that time. So when Manchester United lost the battle for Eden Hazard in the summer of 2012, they didn’t hesitate for a moment and signed the cheaper Japanese.

Kagawa played 71 competitive games for Dortmund, amassing 29 goals and 17 assists. The Red Devils had high hopes for him. But in the same transfer window, something happened that destroyed the technician’s career at Old Trafford.

Manchester United were given the opportunity to bring the star Robin Van Persie into their ranks, which meant a different style of play and taking up space in the offensive lines. And letting Wayne Rooney sit out? Kagawa often had to come on from the wing, which was not something that suited him.

So the wheat didn’t bloom for him in England and after two years he returned to Dortmund where he had thrived so much. And again it looked promising, but only for two seasons. After that, Kagawa gradually began to drop out of the line-up. This was followed by an unsuccessful loan spell at Besiktas or a not-so-successful loan spell at Real Zaragoza, who played in the second Spanish league.

In January 2021, he signed as a free agent with PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece, where he met Michael Krmencik. However, he was unable to make a name for himself there either. He played only a few games and it was not a great success. After a year, the club terminated his contract.

Now the 32-year-old Kagawa has signed for the Belgian first league team Sint-Truidense, where he will try to revive his almost extinct career. Will he follow up his great performances at Dortmund?

Source: Sint-Truidense, Transfermarkt