6 top midfielders who switched to lesser leagues in the twilight of their careers

#2 Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe)

Anders Iniesta ended his stay at Camp Nou after 16 successful years

On 6th October 2017, Iniesta signed a lifetime contract with FC Barcelona, effectively keeping him at the club for the rest of his career. Barcelona had thus far failed to sign a genuine and able replacement for Iniesta.

However, around this time, Phillipe Coutinho made it clear that he would agitate for and force a move from Liverpool to the Catalan giants. Coutinho signed for the club in January. After insisting for almost six months that the club hadn’t signed Coutinho to replace him, Andres Iniesta confirmed his departure from the club after 22 years at the club including 16 seasons with the first team, securing a league and cup double his final season.

Japanese club Vissel Kobe, who have former Germany, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Galatasaray star Lukas Podolski on their books as their club captain, announced the signing of Iniesta on 24th May 2018.

Iniesta made his debut in J1 League against Shonan Bellmare coming on a substitute. He scored a stunning long-range effort against Jubilo Iwata after combining well with Podolski to open his account in Japan.