Japan international Hajime Hosogai is set to join Bayer Leverkusen after agreeing terms with the Bundesliga club.
The 24-year-old midfielder feels the time has come to leave Urawa Red Diamonds and further his career in Europe, and he claims to have agreed a four-and-a-half year contract with Leverkusen.
"I made a positive decision to put myself in an environment that will be tough for me," he told Kyodo News.
Hosogai made his international debut in a friendly at home to Paraguay in September and is set to arrive in Germany after playing for Japan in next month's Asian Cup in Qatar.
Leverkusen, who are joint-second in the Bundesliga, will then immediately loan Hosogai out to second-division outfit FC Augsburg.
Hosogai is set to be the fifth Japanese player in the Bundesliga along with Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Atsuto Uchida (Schalke), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg) and Kisho Yano (Freiburg).
