Takehiro Tomiyasu is yet to acquire a work permit, and Arsenal are racing against the clock to register him in time to feature against Norwich on Saturday.
The Gunners will be looking to kickstart their season after consecutive losses in their opening three league outings thus far, and should have a favourable opportunity to do just that as we take on the Canaries, who have also failed to pick up a single point thus far.
We may well have to do so without the former Bologna defender however, with just a few hours remaining to sign him up in time to feature, with the club claimed to be ‘working hard’ to get this done.
“We need a work permit first,” the Spaniard said in his pre-match press conference(via Arsenal.com). “The club is trying hard to achieve that in the next couple of hours. He’s back in the country right now. I will meet him for the first time today, probably, and train with him, see how he is and get a feel for it. He’s been playing so he should be completely fit and yeah, we’ve been impressed. That’s the reason why we decided to sign him.”
Arteta also informed the fans of what they should expect from the Japanese defender.
“Tomiyasu has the ability to play anywhere in a back four,” Arteta added. “he has done it all across the back four and the back three as well. He gives us that versatility. He gives different qualities in that right back position and is a player that we followed for a long time and he brings qualities that we didn’t have in this squad.
I’m certainly keen to see how the 22 year-old will fare in our line-up, and it sounds like he is set to play a key role in the first-team.
Patrick