By Chris Burton - GOAL

Real Madrid have allowed Japanese sensation Takefusa Kubo to link up with Real Mallorca on a season-long loan.

The 18-year-old returned to Spanish football over the summer amid much fanfare.

He is considered to be a hot prospect for the future, having previously spent time within the famed La Masia academy system at Barcelona.

Sanctions imposed on the Catalan giants forced him to head home in 2015, but he is now back in Europe.

Real have high hopes for him, but are aware of their non-European Union player quota and need to find competitive minutes for the youngster.

A loan spell is considered the best learning experience at this stage.

Mallorca are happy to open their doors and will be hoping to buy into Kubo’s precocious talents over the course of the 2019-20 campaign.

A statement released on the club’s official website read: “CD Mallorca and Real Madrid CF have reached an agreement for the transfer of Takefusa Kubo until June 30, 2020.

“The new Mallorca player is one of the great promises of world football and stands out for his great quality with the ball at his feet. 

“Kubo speaks Spanish perfectly after passing through the system of FC Barcelona and at 18 he is an international with Japan. 

“Kubo will train with his new teammates tomorrow [Friday].”

Mallorca are back in La Liga this season after securing promotion through the second tier play-offs in 2018-19.

Madrid will be keeping a close eye on his development, with Zinedine Zidane having previously spoken of the need to show patience with a player still learning his trade.

The Blancos boss said over the summer after easing Kubo into the Real fold and seeing him shine in friendly outings: “There are many players who have come on pre-season with us from the youth system.

“Kubo has joined us recently and he is a player for the future, but we will talk about what is best with him and it could be good that he trains with us and plays for the Castilla, we will see.

“He is still very young and we must be patient with his development.”

Rather than keep him within the Castilla youth ranks, the decision has been made to let Kubo find senior football away from Santiago Bernabeu.