Kagawa set for career challenge

Shinji Kagawa believes that the ‘greatest challenge’ of his career lies ahead of him after signing for Manchester United.

But the 23-year-old Japan international midfielder is confident that he can fulfill his promise at Old Trafford and in the Premier League.

Kagawa was unveiled by manager Sir Alex Ferguson alongside Nick Powell at a press conference on Thursday, and acknowledged his need to improve if he is to make the desired impact at United.

However, Kagawa insists that he is in the best possible place to further himself as a footballer and wants to continue the metoric rise that saw him go from the Japanese second division to winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund in three years.

“I’m happy to be here and every day I’ll take the chance to improve myself and move further up,” he told reporters.

“It’s definitely the greatest challenge of my career and I hope to learn and improve every day.

“I’ve always said I have to improve my playing qualities; now I’ve been here a bit I can really feel the difference. It’s a top-level club and environment, and when the other internationals join us it will be even better.

The Japan international stated that he is unfazed by the increased media focus that now weighs heavily on his shoulders, and does not expect it to take him long in acclimatise.

“I definitely feel the attention of the media globally now. I’m a member of a great club at Manchester United,” he said.

“I think I can handle the pressure and am pretty confident I can adapt to the style of the Premier League.

“Everything here shows me it’s a really big club and it’s a great honour to play here. I want to really contribute by achieving concrete results.

“Language is very important to me,” he said.

“I’m very motivated to learn English; I hope I can learn it quickly so I can communicate with my team mates very soon.”