Leicester City Premier League title-winning hero announces retirement plan

Title-winning hero Shinji Okazaki has announced his retirement from football. The Japanese striker, integral to Leicester City’s 2016 success, will hang up his boots at the end of the season, when he will be 38.

Currently playing for Sint-Truiden in Belgium, Okazaki has said he is ‘listening to his body’ and is ‘reaching his physical limits’, and with injuries sidelining him for most of the current campaign, he is calling time on his career. It will end 19 years in the game for the striker.

Okazaki’s work-rate and movement were crucial to City’s Premier League triumph, the Japanese international providing a great foil for Jamie Vardy at the top, and an excellent link for Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton on the wings. He chipped in with some spectacular goals too, notably an overhead kick in a win over Newcastle.

Leaving City in 2019 after 137 appearances and 19 goals in four seasons, Okazaki initially moved to Malaga before financial issues saw them cancel his contract before he’d even played a game. He then joined Huesca, helping them to get promoted to La Liga.

After two years with Huesca, he went to Cartagena for a season before moving to Belgium. He’s now in his second season with Sint-Truiden, but after playing 32 games in his first campaign, injuries have restricted him to just seven substitute outings this term.

“I have decided to end my career at the end of this season,” Okazaki said. “I gave everything as a football player, but as a sportsman you also have to listen to your body. Today I am reaching my physical limits. In the remaining weeks I will do everything to get fit so that I can contribute to the team and to say goodbye on the field.

“I want to be open about this decision to everyone who has always supported me. That is why I am announcing the decision now. I would of course be happy to provide additional explanation at the end of the season. Until then I will focus 100 per cent on football.”

Okazaki’s career began with Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan before he moved to Germany and Stuttgart. He then switched to Mainz and that was where he caught City’s attention, with 29 goals across 70 games in two seasons earning him a £7.5m transfer to the King Power Stadium.

Internationally, Okazaki played for Japan 119 times, placing him fifth on their all-time appearance list. He scored 50 goals too, putting him third in his country’s scoring charts. He won the Asian Cup with Japan in 2011 while he represented his country at three World Cups in 2010, 2014, and 2018, scoring at the first two.

What’s your favourite memory of Okazaki at City? Let us know in the comments section below.