Timbe welcomed by thousands of Vissel Kobe fans in official presentation

Kenyan international Ayub Timbe is inching closer to making his debut for Vissel Kobe after his official presentation to the thousands of Vissel Kobe fans on Sunday.

Timbe has now left the J.Bubble where he spent two weeks as a Covid-19 precautionary measure after arriving in Japan from Belgium. 

The former Reading FC winger walked out to the crowd before Kobe’s match against Shimizu S-Pulse and briefly interacted with the fans.

Kobe took to twitter to post pictures of Timbe who was clad in all black and accompanied the photo with, “Welcome to the club Masika Ayub.”

One of the thousands in the crowd waved a Kenyan flag with Masika emblazoned at the bottom as hundreds also welcomed him with comments on the post.

Kobe played out to a 1-1 draw against Shimizu with fans enduring a goalless first half at the NOEVIR Stadium Kobe.

Ferreira Elsinho broke the deadlock in the 78th minute but Kobe rallied back into the tie through a close-range finish from Kyogo Furuhashi.

Former Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen also watched the game from the stands after recovering from injury but could not make the bench.

Kobe will soon be back to full strength after Andres Iniesta resumed training after tearing his proximal right thigh muscle tendon back in December 2020. 

Timbe will be eager to make his debut for Kobe in the clash against Shonan Bellmare on Saturday 17 April.