At a Glance:
- Takehiro Tomiyasu endured a complicated career at Arsenal
- Recent social media post highlights the emotional aspect of his struggles
- Fans still show a lot of love to the Japanese defender
Takehiro Tomiyasu endured a complicated stint during his career at Arsenal, showing promise and ability when available but struggling with persistent spells where he was sidelined with injuries and unavailable to play.
The Japanese defender, who could play as both a centre-back and right-back, joined the Gunners from Bologna in 2021, spending four years with the club and playing 84 games, with two goals to his name.
After only making a single appearance for his North London employers in the 2024/25 campaign, Tomiyasu would depart the club in the summer of last year, becoming a free agent. He would join Dutch club Ajax in December 2025, and has played seven games for the club at the time of writing.
Arsenal fans have reacted to a recent update on social media about the defender’s time at Arsenal, which showed how complicated a footballer’s career can become with off-the-field issues.
Takehiro Tomiyasu asked to leave Arsenal on loan, but Mikel Arteta said no
It has been revealed on X (formerly Twitter) by @SamJDean that Takehiro Tomiyasu requested that Arsenal send him on loan, but that manager Mikel Arteta did not want the then-Arsenal number 16 to depart from the team, even on a temporary basis.
It is unclear at what part of Tomiyasu’s Arsenal tenure this situation took place, but it showed that management, and presumably the higher-ups, too, wanted things to work out between the Japanese international and Arsenal, despite how much time he spent unavailable for the club.
One commenter made a reference to Arsenal’s recent Premier League victory, saying that the club should “invite our boy [Tomiyasu] to the parade and give him a medal.”
A second simply attached a GIF from hit show The Office, showing character Michael Scott looking emotional, highlighting how passionate Gooners were about Tomiyasu being a success at Arsenal, even if that did sadly not end up being the case.
Fans clearly think that Tomiyasu was a talented player when he played
Many fans were unafraid to state how much Tomiyasu impressed them when he was on the pitch, with one of the most liked comments on the topic mentioning exactly that.
“He was [an] unreal player. Talented. Humble. Hard worker on the pitch. Injuries weren’t fair to him like many of our TOP talents. Injuries can cause you to lack confidence. Happens. Guys, we had a lot of bad players in the game, but Tomi [Tomiyasu] ain’t one of them.”
Another resonated with that narrative, adding that “A fit Tomi [Tomiyasu] was something else, a master who could defend in any position in that back line.”
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