Player admits club “convinced” him to leave Man City – Pleased to have a “long-term perspective”

Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Ko Itakura has detailed how the club “convinced” him to join them from Manchester City in the summer.

Itakura joined the German side in a €5m deal from Manchester City in the summer, bringing an end to a three-year stay at the Etihad.

He had moved to Manchester from Kawasaki Frontale in January 2019 but failed to make a single appearance for Pep Guardiola’s side in that time.

He instead spent two years on loan at Dutch side Groningen and then spent time with Schalke before eventually joining Mönchengladbach last summer.

Itakura has been a regular for them this season, making 14 appearances in the Bundesliga to date and featuring in 55% of the available minutes, with a ruptured ligament injury suffered in November the only reason that number isn’t higher.

His plan is to kick on and establish himself in the Bundesliga moving forwards, and he admits it was that long-term strategy which Borussia used to tempt him away from Manchester City.

“Borussia made a lot of effort to find me, gave me the feeling in the talks right from the start that I was needed. That convinced me,” he told Rheinische Post.

“I mainly exchanged ideas with other Japanese players from the Bundesliga. They highlighted the club’s great history and the quality of the players.

“It was […] hard for me to leave Schalke, but now it’s good to have a long-term perspective at a club like Borussia.”