Tomiyasu claims he rejected Spurs for Arsenal
It is a well-known fact that even though Arsenal have had an underwhelming decade, they still have a greater “pull” than many of their rivals.
Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez have all declined good offers from other clubs to join our gargantuan institution.
More recently it has been Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu. The 22-year-old, who plays as a center-back for his national team, claimed that he rejected an offer from Tottenham Hotspur to join Arsenal.
Speaking to DAZN Japan, the young defender said, “I thought I wasn’t able to join Arsenal. I thought I was going to Spurs. On Deadline Day, I rejected them.”
He continued, “Arsenal asked me to join them and I did immediately.”
The Gunners and Sp*rs could have easily gone in a different direction with Emerson Royal and Tomiyasu. When Emerson was being linked to a move to the Emirates Stadium, the former Bologna man was a serious target for their North London rivals.
Fast forward three months, and with the way things have gone, Arsenal faithful believe that they dodged a bullet by not signing the Barcelona full-back.
Tomiyasu has been way more beneficial to this Arsenal team than Emerson has been to Sp*rs (it’s the history of Tottenham).
The Japan international, who has made 26 appearances for his national side, quickly showed the Arsenal fans why the club made an investment on him as he was voted the club’s Player of the Month for September.
Tomiyasu was then asked about which club or country would he like to move to, to which he replied, “No, I wouldn’t like to move. If I could go back to the time when Arsenal was at the top, that would be the best for me because where I am now is the best place in the world.”
Tomiyasu has continued to show his defensive and aerial qualities. The current Arsenal right-back has provided better numbers in every department than the former Hector Bellerin, who’s on loan at Spanish outfit Real Betis.
Although “Tomi,” as they call him in the training ground, still has to prove that he can provide good numbers on the final third too.
But with Tomiyasu being just 22, he has certainly massive room to improve.
Now the Japanese just has to focus on his performances on the pitch. He doesn’t need to worry about the support from our fanbase.
Because he’s never going to be short of it.