Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa has joined Turkish club Besiktas on loan from the Bundesliga club. After completing a medical in the city yesterday, the former Manchester United player signed a loan deal until the rest of the season. There were reports from Turkish media that Besiktas had the option the buy the attacking midfielder but the club did not speak out on that. Kagawa who began his second spell with Borussia Dortmund in 2014, fell down the pecking order under Lucien Favre this season.
The Japan international made only three appearances for Dortmund this season, providing an assist in a DFB Pokal match against Union Berlin. Lack of appearances at Dortmund resulted Kagawa being omitted from Japan’s squad for the ongoing Asian Cup, the final of which they’ll play today against Qatar.
Earlier, Kagawa was a target for struggling French club AS Monaco who are currently on the brink of relegation. However, the 29-year opted to join Besiktas instead. Kagawa leaves Dortmund with 216 appearances to his name, scoring 60 goals and providing 55 assists.
Kagawa is Besiktas’ third signing and first loan signing of the winter transfer window with the club previously signing Burak Yilmaz from Trabzonspor and Nicolas Isimat-Mirin from PSV. Overall, he is Besiktas’ 10th signing and third loan signing of the season.
Besiktas are currently 6th in the league table, 11 points behind leaders Istanbul Basaksehir.
Kagawa will most likely make his debut for the club in their match against Antalyaspor at Antalya on Sunday.
