The first sighting of Ryo Miyaichi in an Arsenal shirt was a memorable one. On a balmy summer’s evening at Boreham Wood in 2010, the Japanese youngster, a relatively unknown trialist at the time, underlined his considerably vast potential by racing past a couple of players before striking the crossbar with a fierce effort within moments of the kick-off.
There were tentative murmurings at that stage of Ryo becoming a future star, claims that were emboldened by his subsequent stint on loan with Feyenoord, where he was dubbed “Ryodinho” following some scintillating displays.
With his work permit now obtained, Ryo returned to Arsenal and, after a couple of outings in the League Cup, where he once again demonstrated his breathtaking speed, he found himself loaned out to Bolton Wanderers. However, the Japanese international failed to establish himself at the Reebok Stadium, with a spell with Wigan Athletic last season proving similarly uneventful.
This season he has been on the periphery of the Arsenal first-team squad, making his Premier League debut for the club against Stoke City, but a succession of injury problems appear to have had a major impact on his development, to the extent that he was left out of the club’s updated Champions League squad, which was submitted yesterday evening.
Ryo’s omission was rather startling in itself, but even more so given that Theo Walcott was included despite the England winger being expected to miss the remainder of the season through injury. Ryo has been somewhat isolated from the squad in recent weeks, only being called upon to make the bench when a multitude of players are missing, and, at present, it would appear rather difficult for him to earn an extension to his contract that is due to expire at the end of next season.
It was somewhat surprising that the 21 year old, who has been a regular for Arsenal’s U21 side in recent weeks, didn’t head out on loan during the recent transfer window, and now it seems likely that he will spend the rest of the season playing second-string football.
It is rather a shame that it has come to this for Ryo, a player who has been described as impeccably polite off the pitch, but, at a club of the calibre of Arsenal, and at a time when the Premier League squad rules force difficult decisions to be made, there is very little time to wait for considerable improvements to be made.
