After enduring a disappointing two seasons at Old Trafford since arriving in 2012, Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa has returned to Germany.
The Japanese international, who was signed by the Red Devils for a reported £17 million, was sold for less than half that--about £6.3 million--to die Schwarzgelben, reflecting his startling fall from grace in just two years.
The move is interesting as not too long ago, reports indicated that his place was safe within Louis Van Gaal's side, but now with the record signing of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid and already having Juan Mata in the squad, Kagawa, not surprisingly, was quickly deemed surplus to requirements and was allowed to move on.
Die Schwarzgelben announced the signing on their official Twitter feed earlier today on a four year deal:
.@S_Kagawa0317 kehrt zu Borussia Dortmund zurück. Mehr dazu hier: http://t.co/GzTx5bOjMu pic.twitter.com/P3HbSWHzvV
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 31, 2014
Meanwhile, Manchester United fans were divided on social media as to whether selling Kagawa was such a good idea.
A few felt that the 25-year-old had been given more than enough changes to impress...
Kagawa joins Veron in being players of clear class that just didn't work. #mufc
— Andrew Yaxley (@andyyax) August 31, 2014
I don't know why we signed #Kagawa in the first place if I'm honest, besides selling a few shirts in the Far East of course. #mufc
— Amarpreet Singh (@Amarpreet_87) August 31, 2014
...but a lot more appeared to be disappointed to see him return to Germany after two seasons:
Dortmund confirm deal for Kagawa. Might have gone differently at #MUFC if they hadn't signed Van Persie the same summer. But they did.
— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonMEN) August 31, 2014
Sucks that Shinji Kagawa never got to shine at #MUFC hopefully he gets back to his old self at Dortmund, #GoodLuckShinji
— Chris (@VigilantPatchy) August 31, 2014
Cant believe kagawa has gone for 6 million!What a steal,genuinely think he's a better player than mata,just not given the opportunity! #MUFC
— Grant Davies (@grantyboi88) August 31, 2014
Have #MUFC just sold their best No.10 in #Kagawa? #Anderson continues to steal a living.
— Carl Brown (@CarlBrown82) August 31, 2014