United new man ready for EPL challenge

LONDON - Shinji Kagawa is confident he can adapt to life in the Premier League, but admits his move to Manchester United will provide the “greatest challenge” of his career so far.

Friday, July 13, 2012
Sir Alex Ferguson with signings Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell. Net photo.

LONDON - Shinji Kagawa is confident he can adapt to life in the Premier League, but admits his move to Manchester United will provide the "greatest challenge” of his career so far.Kagawa joined United from Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund last month for £17 million. The transfer is the latest step in Kagawa’s rapid rise, following his move to Germany from the J.League’s Cerezo Osaka in 2010, and the forward says he is eager to continue this progress at Old Trafford."I’m happy to be here and every day I’ll take the chance to improve myself and move further up,” Kagawa said. "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.”Despite coming under increased media scrutiny in the Premier League, Kagawa insists he is prepared for his move to England and does not anticipate any problems fitting in with his United team-mates."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. I’m very motivated to learn English; I hope I can learn it quickly so I can communicate with my team-mates very soon.”