Yahoo Japan report that Takehiro Tomiyasu is currently out of action due to mild muscular pain, and there is a worry he won’t return in time for the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace in just two weeks.
Mikel Arteta also recently confirmed that Tomiyasu has a “muscular niggle”, and we’ve already seen how the defender’s injuries can drag on.
Tomiyasu missed huge chunks of last season, only making the Arsenal squad for 22 of the 35 Premier League games following his signing.
The last injury of the season came in the first half of Arsenal’s trip to Newcastle United, after which Tomiyasu was absent against Everton, and then missed the early fixtures of Japan’s international break.
There was seemingly a positive sign towards the end of that break, as the 23-year-old made the bench for a match against Tunisia.
But he’s either had a setback since then, or that inclusion was premature from the beginning, because a month later he’s still injured.
With so little time remaining in pre-season and Hector Bellerin pushing for an exit, it looks likely that either Cedric Soares or Ben White will start at right-back against Palace on the opening day of the season.
