Arsenal could be dealt a serious blow with news that Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has withdrawn from the upcoming Japan squad set to participate in the KIRIN Challenge Cup 2023.
Japan are due to face some strong opposition from South America in the likes of Uruguay on March 24th and Colombia on March 28th. However, they’ll have to do it without Tomiyasu, who suffered what Mikel Arteta feared was a serious injury in the game against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.
And Football London’s Tom Canton has shared an update on Tomiyasu’s injury.
Speaking on The Gooner Talk YouTube channel, Canton claims that there are now murmurs that the Japan international will be out for a longer period of time with some suspecting that means until the end of the season – ending the defender’s participation in Arsenal’s quest for their first English Premier League title since 2003.
“We did suffer some frustrating injuries. Tomiyasu could be out for the rest of the season is my understanding on that which is a really frustrating one.
“They are still awaiting the final assessment of that, but there are whispers that the assessment of his knee is not great. Maybe the scan will reveal that it’s not as bad as many fear it will be,” Canton said.
This news means that Tomiyasu is definitely out of contention to play against Crystal Palace on Sunday and Arsenal fans will be hoping that they don’t start to pile up the injuries, with fears over the participation of William Saliba who also withdrawn prematurely with an injury on Thursday evening.
Tomiyasu has been replaced by Hiroki Machida in the Japan squad.
