LaLiga Santander: collaboration agreement between FC Barcelona and Vissel Kobe (J.League, JPN)

FC Barcelona (LaLiga Santander) and Japan's Vissel Kobe (J.League) have signed a collaboration agreement which aims "to take advantage of synergies to share knowledge in technical and other areas," said the Catalan club on 27/07/2019.

The agreement was announced on the day of the friendly between the two clubs (won 2-0 by Barcelona), played at the Noevir Stadium Kobe, during the Catalan club's summer tour of Japan. "The Catalan club and the Japanese team, wish to take advantage of synergies to share knowledge both on a technical level, such as staff training and work systems, and in other areas of their clubs, such as marketing and commercial aspects. In addition, both clubs would like to explore joint interests on a business level," said FC Barcelona.

The Vissel Kobe is owned by Rakuten, a Japanese group specialised in internet services, which is also the main shirt sponsor of FC Barcelona for the 2017-2021 period (plus an optional season), for €55m per season. Andrés Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper, Spanish players who have played for Barcelona, play for the Japanese club in…