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Earlier in the day, the Spanish giants Real announced that the 18-year-old joined the record of the number of European champions 13 times of FC Tokyo, to play for their team B next season.
"To be called the Japanese Messi is an honor and makes me proud, but I'm still not at his level and I prefer to focus on my abilities and strengths, said Kubo of Japan's Copa America base in Sao Paulo.
Like Messi, Kubo joined the Barcelona Academy when he was a kid – while he was only 10 years old – but he left in 2015 after the Catalans were punished by FIFA, the governing body of world football, for breaking the rules for the signing of minor players.
His dribbling skills – who made comparisons with Messi – made him a sensation on YouTube as a kid. But while flattered by comparisons, he still wants to be appreciated for his own attributes.
"There are several players like me, but I am not another player" he added in Spanish.
Kubo was not allowed to talk about his transfer so as not to let the matter depart from Copa's preparations in Japan. He has signed a six-year contract worth two million euros ($ 2.25 million) a year, according to Spanish and Japanese media.
Earlier this year, Kubo became the youngest scorer in the J-League, improve his profile at home almost at the icon level Hidetoshi Nakata and Keisuke Honda. Kubo has a wise head on his young shoulders and keeps his feet on the ground in Brazil.
"The most important thing is to absorb as much as possible" at Copa America, he says. "All I have to do is express what I can do in the game, nothing more."
He is the youngest player of the young Japanese team with an average age of 22. In fact, only six of the players had even got a limit when the last 23-player coach was announced by coach Hajime Moriyasu last month.
"I've already played with most of them, I want to play with a spirit that will make them proud,"said Kubo, who only made his Japan debut on June 9 in a 2-0 win over El Salvador in a friendly match at Miyagi.
Japan bows Monday in Sao Paulo against Chile, world champion, who "has the firm intention never to give up," said Kubo.
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