📸 Tomi and The Arsenal – our journey so far.

Coach Mikel Arteta is trying to maintain the current Arsenal squad for a long time and Takehiro Tomiyasu is the latest player to commit his future to the Emirates Stadium team.

In a recent announcement released on its homepage, Arsenal confirmed that Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu officially renewed his contract with the club until 2026, an additional year compared to the old contract and with an extension option. to 2027.

The Japan international joined the Gunners in 2021 from Serie A side Bologna, the same summer as Ramsdale, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, White and Martin Odegaard.

Tomiyasu will stay at Arsenal for another 2 years.

Even though he has struggled with ongoing injury problems – missing 11 games in his first season, 16 games in his second season and already 14 games this season – Tomiyasu is still the same player. important of Mikel Arteta.

In the announcement, Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar said: ” We are delighted to have Tomiyasu with us for many years to come. He possesses great qualities both on and off the field, and is a “Brings a lot of strength and versatility to the club. It’s great that he will continue to play an important role in Arsenal’s journey to the top in the years to come .”

Despite the injury, the Japanese player is still very important in Arteta’s plans.

The 25-year-old has become a key factor in Mikel Arteta’s defense in the Premier League title race, and has shown his importance by appearing 73 times for Arsenal in all competitions to date. . This season, he played 20 matches for the Gunners, including his first goal for Arsenal in a 5-0 home win over Sheffield United last October.

Before the news of the contract re-signing, Tomiyasu shared: “I am very happy to extend the contract because Arsenal is one of the best clubs in the world. Playing football for this club is a dream!”

“Hopefully I’m better than before. I’m still learning a lot from Mikel, from my teammates. I still have a lot to improve. So I will try to become a better player and also a better person.”

However, this has been a difficult season for Tomiyasu despite Arsenal’s success, when the Japanese international’s appearances on the field were severely interrupted by a calf injury. He returned to sit on the bench in the win over Porto in the Europa League last Thursday. The last time he played for Arsenal was in the 1-2 loss to Fulham on December 31 last year.