Takehiro Tomiyasu has undergone knee surgery and released an emotional statement confirming details of the injury that has limited him to only one appearance for Arsenal this season.
The Japan international missed the beginning of the present campaign following a setback he suffered on the club’s pre-season tour of America.
Tomiyasu returned to motion in early October and featured as a late substitute in a 3-1 win over Southampton.
The 26-year-old hasn’t featured since, nonetheless, with Arsenal providing few details on his absence or a possible comeback date.
Taking to Instagram, the versatile defender has now confirmed he’s the most recent Arsenal player to have gone under the knife and is about for one more lengthy period of rehabilitation.
‘I’ve had a surgery on my knee few days ago,’ her wrote. ‘I’ve already began my rehab to do what I like probably the most again.
‘It has been the hardest period in my profession obviously and it carries on a bit more but I won’t hand over.
‘Thanks on your support and see you again.’
Tomiyasu joined the Gunners four-and-a-half years ago from Bologna and has firmly established himself as a fans’ favourite, proving himself as the final word team player.
The defender’s ability to play in quite a few positions across the backline would have proved extremely useful to Mikel Arteta this season given the injuries sustained by Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori which have placed an infinite workload on Jurrien Timber who missed all of last season.
Injuries, unfortunately, have been a relentless hindrance over the course of Tomiyasu’s spell in England and seen him miss a complete of 82 games.
Arteta, meanwhile, is already without each Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz for the run following their very own injury setbacks.
Havertz, who was Arsenal’s only available recognised centre forward, suffered hamstring tear on the club’s warm weather training camp in Dubai and underwent surgery last week.
He said: ‘The previous couple of days have been tough to process each physically and mentally. But yesterday was a very good day. A successful op and a win.
‘Thanks for all of the messages of support over the previous few days, it’s really helped.
‘I’m now focused on my journey to full fitness and giving all of the support I can provide to the team within the background.’
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