Former World Cup and Champions League winner Juan Mata has joined Vissel Kobe, the J-League first-division club said Sunday.
The 35-year-old Spanish playmaker has been without a club after leaving Turkish club Galatasaray this summer and will join a Kobe side in the thick of the J1 title race.
Mata is expected to fill in for Kobe's former Rubin Kazan midfielder Mitsuki Saito, who suffered a serious left knee injury against Kashiwa Reysol on Aug. 19 that has ruled him out for a year.
Mata was a member of the Spanish team that won the 2010 World Cup along with former Vissel star Andres Iniesta.
The skillful attacker starred for Valencia in the Spanish La Liga before winning the European Champions League with English Premier League side Chelsea in 2012.
He spent eight and a half seasons at Manchester United from 2014 and was teammates there with former Japan No. 10 Shinji Kagawa, now of Cerezo Osaka.
