Arsenal have only just rebuilt their squad ahead of another potential title challenge – but a major star is ready to depart halfway through the season.
The Gunners battled for a valiant point away at Manchester City after a heroic second half of defending. Mikel Arteta's side were eventually disappointed to have come away without with the three points, too, conceding in the dying embers of the game, with David James suggesting Arsenal could be “too emotional” to win a title.
The match showed how stretched Arsenal's squad is right now with eight first-teamers missing – and Florian Wirtz has been touted as an upgrade, while rumours of a new forward are never far away. In fact, Arsenal might be about to lose a major player before they gain another one.
Arsenal star Takehio Tomiyasu is ready to depart the club
Takehiro Tomiyasu is yet to feature for Arsenal this season. The Japanese defender missed a huge chunk of last season, eventually regaining fitness, only to be ruled out for the start of the season with another setback in preseason.
Now, it seems like Arteta has lost patience. Calciomercato reports that the former Bologna man is ready to return to Serie A, with Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber ahead of him in the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium in full-back positions.
Arsenal have seven first-team centre-back profiles, with four of them able to play at full-back. Ben White can play right-back, Jakub Kiwior left-back, with Timber and Calafiori both starting either side of Gabriel and William Saliba at the weekend.
Tomiyasu is a rare profile who can play across the backline. The 25-year-old only signed a new contract in March – but it was a deal that included an extra year as an option, rather than being a fixed contract of a certain number of years.
In FourFourTwo's view, this was most likely the case due to Tomiyasu's injury problems. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano hinted at the chance of the star leaving last January in a post on X (formerly Twitter), before that deal was signed.
Bayern Munich were mentioned as a potential suitor earlier this year, but now, Inter Milan are said to be chasing the star, as per Calciomercato – as are Napoli and Juventus, who lead the chase.
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“In the coming months, Juventus will try to test the waters with Arsenal to understand the feasibility of the Tomiyasu operation in terms of costs,” Calciomercato states.
Kiwior has also been touted for a move back to Serie A – but has stayed in the squad this season as a fringe option.
How much would Arsenal get for selling Tomiyasu?
Tomiyasu was a late addition in the summer window of 2022, following a heavy defeat to Manchester City. A centre-back primarily at Bologna, he has never actually started a game centrally for Arsenal – though has filled in there after a red card in a North London Derby in 2023.
Arsenal paid less than £20 million for the star – but won't expect to receive much more for him given his injury record. FourFourTwo sees Tomiyasu is a market opportunity: he is clearly a top player who needs rehabilitating following fitness problems and could be a great buy for an Italian side willing to take a chance on him.
