Takuma Asano’s first season on loan at Stuttgart offered some encouragement, but his second campaign with the German club indicated that it seems unlikely that we will see the attacker representing Arsenal in a competitive game in the near future.
It is almost two years since Arsenal, rather surprisingly, brought in Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, and he has yet to make an appearance for the Gunners at any level as he has been on loan looking to earn a work permit.
Very quick and possessing impressive technique, Asano certainly has raw qualities but he has lacked consistency during his time at Stuttgart and found the step up from the German second tier to the Bundesliga very difficult to deal with.
This season Asano mustered just one goal in 20 league appearances and for the majority of the second half of the campaign he found it difficult to even command a place on the bench, at times dropping down to represent the club’s reserve side.
The 23-year-old is versatile – he can operate on either flank, behind the striker or up front – but all of the evidence suggests that he isn’t ready to represent Arsenal at this moment in time.
Where now for Asano? He is likely to return to Arsenal for pre-season training, where he will hope to make a positive impression on the new manager and, depending on the availability of others, could have an outside chance of featuring in pre-season.
Asano is part of the Arsenal first-team squad yet he doesn’t have a squad number and he would need to really make an impact in training if he is to be part of the setup for next season.
Another loan seems likely, and it would perhaps be worth sending him to an English club, possibly even in the Championship, to see how he fares.
That, though, would surely represent a final opportunity for Asano to impress, as, given his age, he can no longer be considered as a young prospect and should instead be seeking to push on and establish himself as a regular at some level.
Capped 12 times by Japan at senior level, Asano has scored three goals for his country yet seems unlikely to make the final squad for this summer’s World Cup, even though it has been reported that he has been included in the provisional list of 35 players.
As far as his Arsenal future is concerned, there is much work for Asano to do if he is to fulfil his ambition of featuring for the club in the Premier League.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Asinine?
Nein.
Thank you, Jeorge, for following the Asano, over land and sea…
I like his raw attributes, as he’s my type of striker (a Suarez type). Shame it seems he hasn’t got the qualities to make it.
Didn’t even get close to the levels of a Ryo Miyachi.
Oh my i was waiting for someone to compare him with miyachi.
How can we loan him to an English team if he fails to get a work permit for England?
I think, though I am not certain, that his recent caps make him eligible for an English work permit. It’s a complicated formula that depends in part on a country’s coefficient, I think, as well as how often a player is called. Maybe someone who actually knows can explain it?
It’s never going to happen at Arsenal for him, he’s not good enough. Consign him to the deadwood & must sell’s in the summer along with Ospina, Perez, Campbell & Jenkinson.
Another example of why Arsene must go #wengerout
Or have I missed something recently?
Not at all. Very hard to say with certainty watching a school boy if they are going to make it. Sometimes even established pros flop after a move. He cost the club very little in the grand scheme and this is exactly the kind of gamble we have to take as we search for the next world superstar. There is no way we can compete with the big boys for finished products.
Furthermore, Arsenal I have no doubt recognise the marketing value of finding a good Asian player. It used to be the case in the days of Park that his face was everywhere in Korea and Man U cashed in. Now thanks to Son Hyung Min the Spuds are the team every young Korean wants to play for.
when did you watch him play?
Struggling to make an impression in the German second division, not in Japan’s world cup squad, hasn’t got a work permit? When has a young player at Arsenal ever turned anything like that around?
Just sell him for as much as you can and move on.
Interesting that you include Ospina. Not sure that is justified.
Ospina? Really? He’s a clown and not good enough to be number 1. With Cech probably staying for another yeah Ospina is of no use.
Can’t win em all. This is the harsh reality of professional football. It’s all very fine margins that dictate whether you can cut it or not.
You take a risk on potential and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t.
Maybe he’ll prove everyone wrong yet but it might be somewhere else now.
another wenger classic
Inamoto, Miyachi and now Asano.
You forgot Chu young park
Another fine piece of Arsenal scouting
It’s not his fault but this story is a typical reflection of our scouting network for most of the past decade. We used to be streets ahead but everyone else has caught up. It’s another thing that I am relishing to see change for the better.
For me, Asano should be given this opportunity to play alongside wirh the players during their pre-Season campaign ; I think that will give us the courage to give him pas mark or show him the wayout to Emirate