TOMIYASU UNDERGOES SURGERY ON INJURED KNEE

Arsenal have confirmed that Takehiro Tomiyasu has had surgery on the “significant” knee injury he picked up during last week’s Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon and will miss the remainder of the season.

The Japan international slipped on the turf in the early stages, seemed to jar his right knee and had to be substituted after just nine minutes before leaving Emirates Stadium on crutches.

Tomiyasu hasn’t had much luck with injuries since arriving from Bologna in the summer of 2021. After an impressive start to life in London, the full-back was hampered by a calf issue for four months last season and missed a big chunk of the run-in. Now he’s facing another long spell on the sidelines.

In November, he also limped out of the Europa League group stage clash with Zurich with a hamstring problem that hampered his preparations for the World Cup.

While Tomiyasu did feature for his country in Qatar, he played just 76 minutes of the group stages before completing the full 120 minutes of Japan’s penalty shootout defeat to Croatia.

Having loaned Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles to Fulham and Southampton, the Gunners are now relying on Ben White to stay fit for the remaining 10 games of the season. Academy prospect Reuell Walters, who earned his first senior call-up for Sunday’s win over Crystal Palace, is a fallback option.

We wish Tomi all the best with his recovery. It’s hoped he’ll be back in time for pre-season in July.