He's back! Takehiro Tomiyasu has been involved in a full Arsenal training session for the first time since February and Mikel Arteta must now decide on a plan for the defender against Chelsea.
The Japan international was a regular in the Gunners side following his arrival from Bologna on transfer deadline day last summer up until the festive period as that's where his calf issues began. In fact, his last appearance to date remains the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg defeat against Liverpool towards the end of January.
With that said, Tomiyasu did come close to making a comeback a month later as he was an unused substitute in the 2-1 win over Brentford, but for the most part, he has watched on from the sidelines as Arsenal established themselves as genuine top-four contenders.
READ MORE: Who trained and who didn't as Mikel Arteta calls up four Arsenal youngsters for Chelsea clash
But with the Gunners on a downward trend after three straight defeats, Tomiyasu's return could be the boost needed to get back on track as he is in line to be named in the squad that makes the short trip to Stamford Bridge. Although, what will be his role if he does earn an immediate recall?
Well, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta did suggest on Tuesday that tonight's game could be too soon for the 23-year-old but revealed when a final decision would be made regarding Tomiyasu's potential involvement against the Blues: "Tomi is very, very close. Whether this game is going to be too early for him or not, again we will decide it today after the training session."
Whilst it remains to be seen what the Spaniard does in terms of selecting an Arsenal matchday squad against Chelsea, his use of Tomiyasu during the calendar year may provide a hint that the defender will be eased back into action.
After all, opting to rush Tomiyasu back for the Liverpool game in January ultimately backfired on Arteta as the right-back was clearly not fully fit and the recurrence of the calf injury only served to compound matters as the Gunners were beaten 2-0 on the night - ending their chances of winning a piece of silverware this season.
To the Spaniard's credit, he did learn from that mistake after leaving Tomiyasu out of the squad for the 1-0 win at Wolves at the beginning of February and then naming him on the bench against Brentford. This proves he knows the importance of taking a cautious approach with his key players returning from injury and it was somewhat ironic that despite not taking any risks, he still ended up losing the defender for a couple of months.
As a result, those decisions may hint at the plan being to hold Tomiyasu back for the Manchester United game on Saturday or put him on the bench against Chelsea. If it's the latter, then it will be somewhat of a new role for him as since arriving at Arsenal last summer, he has only once been named amongst the substitutes in a matchday squad, with his first 17 appearances for the club all coming as a starter.
