Manchester United's Shinji Kagawa Stars in Japanese TV Ad (Video)

Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa was one of the many pieces of Manchester United's English Premier League title-winning squad this season. Now we learn he was also a star in a commercial for an Internet provider back in his homeland.

The ad, for a company called SoftBank, includes a talking beluga whale and a football-playing dog. It also features Kagawa taking shots on goal and a couple of handy line graphs at the very end.

We would tell you more, but it's no use. Unless you speak Japanese and/or are crazy, the ad is bonkers. No matter: it appears above and serves as our Set Piece Video of the Day for this post-title-winning Tuesday.

With that, we'll move on to United's title-clinching victory over Aston Villa from Monday night. Robin van Persie scored all three goals in the first half, including this volleyed stunner from a long-range Wayne Rooney pass.

The win secured United's 20th title overall and 13th under manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the Premier League era. After the match, The Independent's Ian Herbert argued that Kagawa is the future of United's midfield—even if Rooney remains more popular, for now, with the fans.

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The Japanese player's late emergence has been one of the stories of this spring around this stadium and last night he embellished it with his neat, precise, intelligent interchange of passes, the best of them sending Ryan Giggs motoring through the left channel to supply Van Persie's third goal. And all the time Rooney was left chugging along behind, deep in midfield.

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So will next season be Kagawa's turn to lead the Red Devils to glory? Celebrate for now, United fans, then let us know what you think in the comments below.

(Video h/t: Who Ate All The Pies)

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