Rocio Robles
Asian soccer leagues often offer a quiet place for established players to retire after a career that has taken them to the top of the game. There was also a time when many big-name or promising players left for Asia — mainly China — during the league’s economic heyday, when foreigners were offered juicy sums of money to play in the Far East. There have also been cases of players who lost their way in their careers and ended up playing in Asia for unknown and strange reasons.
There’s been a little bit of everything. So, here’s a list of five players you probably remember and have no idea are currently playing in Asia.
Marouane Fellaini
Let’s suppose we are in the last minutes of the match. Our team is tied or behind on the scoreboard, and… We bring on Marouane Fellaini and let the crosses into the box come pouring in. This was one of José Mourinho’s common strategies during his time at Manchester United, in which he used Fellaini as a last-minute device to break up games.
Fellaini arrived to the team led by David Moys in 2013 from Everton, during the restructuring of the team after the departure of Alex Ferguson. His six-year stay with the Red Devils would come to an end in 2019, as the lanky 1.95-meter midfielder moved his game and his luxuriant hair to Asia, specifically to Shandong Taishan in China, where he has played to date.
His look is sure to be missed in the Premier League, although those in the stadium may be better off without him on the pitch.
Sergi Samper
As the saying goes, what was once will never be again. Sergi Samper was called to be the generational replacement for Sergio Busquets at Barcelona. The Spaniard made his entire career in the “Culés” youth academy from the age of six, but never managed to make a place for himself in the first team, being quickly relegated to ostracism and failing to fulfill what everyone expected of him.
He was part of the Blaugrana’s first team from 2014 to 2019, but made just one league appearance in all those years. During that period, he was loaned to Granada and Las Palmas, and with the latter he only made five appearances in total in a whole season.
In 2019, he threw in the towel on his dream of joining Barcelona and ended up leaving for Vissel Kobe in Japan, and would be reunited in Asia with someone he surely admired during his younger years at La Masia.
Oscar
If one thinks of great players in Asia, one of the first that comes to mind is surely Oscar. The Brazilian dazzled the world with his talent and technique with Chelsea after making his debut for the club in 2012, and he was deemed to be one of the jewels of his generation.
However, China came knocking on his door in 2017 and proposed an offer that the player could not refuse. In fact, Oscar himself has mentioned in interviews that his career matters little to him: he only wants the best for his family, so it makes sense that he preferred to move to China’s Shanghai Port rather than seek titles and recognition in Europe’s elite.
He’s played throughout Asia since then and hasn’t been heard from since, although it was rumored in recent transfer markets that Barcelona were interested in acquiring the services of the 30-year-old Brazilian. If they want to pull him out of Asia, they’ll have to offer him a nice deal, but it appears we all missed out on seeing one of the best attacking midfielders of his time.
Leandro Damiao
Speaking of players destined to be the stars of their generation, few will remember Leandro Damiao. The Brazilian striker was a star for Internacional between 2009 and 2013, scoring 89 goals in 179 appearances. There was speculation that he could become Brazil’s future “9” at a time when the “Canarinha” was lacking a quality center forward, and many teams from the old continent were closely following Damiao’s progress.
However, the player never seemed to make that leap to Europe, and his only experience on that continent was with Real Betis in 2016, where he would score an unsurprising zero goals in three appearances. After his loan period in Andalusia, he returned to South America, and in 2019 he left for Asia. Since then, he has played for Kawasaki Frontlane in Japan.
Kawasaki won two league titles since the striker’s arrival, and 2021 saw Leandro Damiao claim the Japanese League Top Scorer title with 23 goals. At least he made it out of Latin America to Japan, and that’s something he can be proud of.
Andrés Iniesta
With less hair (and more gray hair) but with the same magic. No, Andrés Iniesta hasn’t retired yet. In 2018, he ended his 16-year association with Barcelona’s first team and headed far, far, far away to Asia to make sure he would never by any chance face the club he adored again.
Now 37 years old, he is captain of Vissel Kobe in Japan, where he has scored 25 goals in 111 appearances and shares a team with other former Culés players such as the aforementioned Sergi Samper and the legendary Bojan Krkic.
Perhaps he can join Xavi’s coaching staff once his career is over to reunite with his old friend, but only time will tell.
