Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu could miss his side’s entire preseason preparations after suffering a knee injury that prevented him from joining the first team on their US tour. The Japan international was not part of the 26-man squad that flew with his club to Los Angeles and confirmed he would remain in London for treatment.
No timetable was publicly announced for Tomiyasu’s recovery, but CBS Sports sources indicate that initial estimates suggest he will be sidelined for two to three weeks, putting his involvement in Arsenal’s warm-up games in serious doubt. Mikel Arteta’s side will conclude their preparations for the 2024/25 Premier League season against Lyon on August 11 with their season opener against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Should Tomiyasu miss the pre-season matches in their entirety, doubts would inevitably arise over his ability to hit the ground running in a season where Arsenal are desperate to kick-start their title challenge.
The knee problem is the latest frustrating setback for the 25-year-old, who has generally impressed in the three years since joining Arsenal from Bologna. However, in that time, Tomiyasu only made 83 appearances in all competitions and never played more than 22 Premier League matches in a single season. He has missed an extended stretch of games four times.
While the versatility of Tomiyasu, who signed a new contract in March until at least 2026, is highly valued by Arteta, Arsenal should not be particularly short of defensive options as the new season starts. Jurrien Timber will be available after missing almost all of his first season due to a knee injury as a senior defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White And Jakub Kiwior made the touring team. They will be accompanied by Gabriel Magalhaes on Thursday while William Saliba will return from his post-Euro 2024 holiday for the post-tour matches.
Arsenal are also close to completing the signing of Italy international Riccardo Calafiori, although talks between his current club Bologna and Basel, who have a sell-on clause of up to 50 percent, are delaying the completion of the deal, CBS Sports sources said. At club level last season, Calafiori played mainly on the left side of a three-man defense; at Arsenal he could well take on the inverted left-back role, which was mainly filled by Tomiyasu at the end of the 2023/2024 season.