Mikel Arteta has revealed that Arsenal are hoping to secure a work permit for new signing Takehiro Tomiyasu this afternoon meaning the player could play a part in Saturday’s game against Norwich.
The 22-year-old Japan international landed in London yesterday after featuring in his country’s 1-0 win over China in Doha and will meet his new teammates for the first time on Thursday afternoon.
The boss is hoping the defender, who has spent the last two years in Bologna, will integrate quickly.
“We need the work permit first,” revealed Arteta in his pre-Norwich press conference. “The club is trying hard to achieve that in the next couple of hours.
“He’s back in the country now and I will meet him for the first time today probably and train with him, see how he is, let him get a feel for it. He’s been playing so he should be free. We’ve been impressed that’s the reason why we decided to sign him.”
While Tomiyasu nominally replaces right-back Hector Bellerin following the Spaniard’s move to Real Betis, the manager has already hinted that the new boy’s versatility could see him deployed elsewhere in the backline.
“Tomi has the capacity to play in any position in the back four,” said Arteta. “He’s done it all across the back four and a back three as well.
“He gives us versatility and different qualities in that right-back position. He’s a player that we followed for a long time and brings qualities that we didn’t have in the squad.”
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To learn more about Tomi, check out @_PhilCosta’s excellent player profile
Welcome to the Arsenal Tomiyasu-san
Really excited by this guy. Fast. Big. Strong. Technical. Great passing range. Positional versatility. That combination of attributes is really difficult to find.
Hope his versatility doesn’t become his curse, AMN comes to mind.
Read the Athletic article on him where he was training so hard one time that his manager had to intervene and tell him “Tomiyasu, please stop training!”
Now that’s the attitude I can get behind.
I could see him and Tierney getting along famously
You think he’ll rock up with his boots in a Sainsbury bag or a Morrison’s bag?
Most probably a bag from Don Quixote or Donki as they call it in Japan
He’s also the most 2 footed player we’ve had since Santi
Maybe it’s a coincidence, but after seeing a little bit of some of our new signings (and hearing about Tomiyasu), it seems like being good with both feet was part of the appeal of these guys. White seems pretty capable for a CB, we’ve already seen Tavares score with his right foot, and Sambi seems happy to spray balls wide with either foot.
After all the time we’ve spent watching guys like Xhaka and Kolasinac, this is a change I can definitely get behind.
Odegaard is VERY one-footed. But I hear what you’re saying. We simply had too many guys that are one-foot dominant – Pepe, Odegaard, Xhaka, Kola, Bellerin, AMN. It always blows my mind how footballers at this level can still be so shite on their non-favoured foot. Luckily I was blessed with natural two-footedness (not much else in terms of footballing ability TBH), but it really is a big advantage. One thing I like about Pepe is that it’s clear he has been working hard on his weak right foot and he’s now actually banging with it, and surprise surprise he’s… Read more »
This might just be our biggest problem then at Arsenal. Using players with two feet…
Hat, coat? No? I don’t even get those? Fair enough.
Big weekend for Arteta convincing win needed or it’s going to get more uncomfortable for him.
A draw would be terrible, a loss unthinkable.
And that will be probably be the last nail in thr coffin: Huge pressure and anxiety.
Technically, you’ve just made me think about it. I’m doing my best to say in denial.
Down vote for an existential joke. We have some Kierkegaard critics in the house tonight.
Buddhist?
Nihilist?
Give us a clue.
Stop giving a fuck for downvotes. This is not the first you complain about getting thumbs down. Are you so insecure?
Less a complaint, more a journey of discovery. Consider it a pilgrimage towards enlightenment my sweary friend. I tire of the illusion that relationships and interactions are merely binary choices between like and dislike. I yearn to swim in the straits of uncertainty where the tides of consideration ebb and flow, where the fish of new ideas nibble at our toes. Where the possibility of the paradigm shift tugs like the undertow. Where the riptide of unpredictability thrills and scares in equal measure. Let us reach out to each other, seek to understand, seek to connect and walk in each… Read more »
Mainly though I’ve got a bit of downtime at work this week and I’m bored during the inter-lull.
How’s your day going?
You seem a bit tense.
BTW.
Es-tu familier avec existentialism?
Hai sentito di Søren Kierkegaard?
Fühlst du dich mit philosophie wohl?
Vita vanitas
But at least we have football.
More uncomfortable than a partially wiped arse on a hot day after briskly walking up a hill.
In Lycra shorts 🤔🙈
Also a Kierkegaard reference (from his early work)
Only released in Japan. But I got a copy.
“I can’t stop thinking about my itchy arse, therefore I am.” Vol 1
More “versatility”? How about playing someone that helps bring a clear structure?
A players position on paper doesn’t equal a clear structure. This isn’t football manager.
Why are you painting versatility as a problem? If he’s a good right back, but can also do a job elsewhere in a crisis, then that’s strictly better than a good right back.
Versatility is definitely not a problem but this is Arteta’s Arsenal we’re talking about. Based on Mikel’s line-ups, versatility means shoehorning a player into a position multiple times, even if it is not their optimal position. We’ve seen this with Auba, Willian, Tierney, Saka, Cedric, AMN, Kolasinac and Chambers.
Some of those players aren’t great but it certainly doesn’t help matters to keep playing them out of position.
I never want to see Saka or Tavares at RB again just because “they can do a job there”.
I agree except Tavares I’d much rather him than Cedric
Atleast he’s ot playing Toreirra CAM
Wenger, Emery, Freddie all played auba on the wing
The difference being they all got him to score goals.
I wonder why…….🙄
You are right of course, and I have no problem with players that are able to do a job in different positions. I also hope Tomi will become a great player and from what I’ve seen of him, he seems very good. But I just think the team right now is crying out for structural stability and I’m also getting a bit tired of Arteta’s inability to address that.
Yeah I get that but with Arteta’s predilection for change for the sake of change…didn’t he end up playing a different back four for something like 18 consecutive games last season?
Confusingly, he does like to bang on about specialisms. When he came in he said: “We want to move to a 4-3-3 but for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we don’t have it.”
Go figure. Maybe he knows he needs to create a rod for his own floppy back.
Why are we sweating on this work permit? What have the staff been doing since we signed him?
Yeah exactly.. I mean it’s been a fair few days since deadline day. Should have gotten it done by now.
I doubt this is an issue with Tomiyasu, but permits are now much harder to secure for foreign players.They have to be 18 and older and it’s dependent on how much they’ve played for their country, the perceived quality of the selling club, and even how far that club has gone in continental play. Going for players who play regularly for less prominent football countries makes a lot of sense. For example there could be a very exciting French prospect, but a lack of involvement in the France squad could prohibit a work permit. In smaller football countries that exciting… Read more »
Work permits are harder to secure for foreign players. I’d never have guessed lol
Yes but these are new post Brexit requirements.
He had to be in the country to apply, and he’s been away with the national team
I’m not sure you can speed up work permit applications. It is usually just a case of fill out a few forms, send it off, and wait for the usually very slow authorities.
I mean, other than filling out the forms a bit slowly, what could be the hold up? I’m pretty sure it didn’t sit in their “to do” box for a week because that would just be complete and utter incompete… oh, I see.
On the one hand, it might be a bit reckless to throw him into the firing line straight away, having never played in England before. And you would *hope*, against Norwich, that either Cedric or Chambers would be enough.
Having said that, I’m getting more and more excited by this signing. The more I read about him, the more I think that this Tomiyasu chap is a really top-notch signing, and much-better suited to Arteta’s way of playing than any of our current options. So if he does make an appearance on Saturday I won’t be complaining!
Hopefully he hits the ground running 🙏
🤞
I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s about. On youtube he looks better than Cafu and Zanetti.
Cafnetti has a ring to it
I like Zafu too
Skill sets being what they are, while speculatively White was brought in as a CB and Tomiyasu was brought in as a RB, why do I get the feeling at Arsenal they will swap positions? They both have a history of playing at the other position and styles indicate a switch would be more effective.
What would that say about our transfer strategy 😆
That’s an interesting thought. What struck me is why we went for a RB / RCB hybrid when we already have Chambers and White.
That to me indicates that Arteta sees Tomiyasu as a RB (Hector’s replacement) while still providing cover in the same areas if Chambers were to be moved on.
Not surprised we’ve got for an inverted right back
Think we might see Tomiyasu move centrally, and Ben White moved to the right though
Tomiyasu is 6ft 2, statistically good in the air, and Ben White predominantly played to the right for Brighton last season
A right sided defensive midfielder in possession, and a right back out of possession
I reckon he’ll be used to offset Tierney attacking. When Tierney bombs forward, he’ll probably sit and tuck in so it’s almost like a back three.
We played 2-3-4-1 in possession a lot after Xmas last season
……….Leno
……Tomi Gabriel
White Partey Xhaka
…..Emile Saka
Odegaard …Tierney
….Aubameyang
in possession Xhaka would tuck in behind Tierney, and our right back would tuck in alongside our two defensive midfielders
We mirrored it on occasions, but since we’ve signed Tavares, and two players of similar ilk in Tomiyasu + White, it’s clear what Arteta is trying to do
Then out of possession we shift to a 4-5-1
The athletic profile of Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, will allow us to push up the pitch 10-15 yards
Really curious to see what Tomi offers that Calum doesn’t. They seem similar to me
Pace and awareness
Tomi Tiramisu will carry us up the table!
Mostly we’ve made midtable signings at best.
Arsenal fans as per usual prefer to get excited over wank.
Didn’t see as much from you for a while there, Santori. Can’t say you were missed!! Keep that unrelenting negativity flowing.
Agree about White – all others priced accordingly but there is some “potential”
by all accounts Tommy is more of a CB than RB – do we still need a right back?
I know he is versatile but cmon, no more trial and error, play to their strength. We really need to get our season going.
Excited by this signing. Having both Tomiyasu and Iwabuchi will boost our Asian fanbase imo. Hope they can do well. Ganbare!