Arsenal star now blasts ‘not good’ decision ahead of temporary January departure

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Arsenal are set to lose defender Takehiro Tomiyasu for potentially over a month as a result of his participation in the Asia Cup.

Tomiyasu recently returned from injury and featured for 45 minutes in Arsenal’s defeat to Fulham, but will not be seen again until February depending on how Japan fare in the tournament.

The 25-year-old has now slammed the decision to host the Asia Cup in the middle of the Premier League season, highlighting the difficulties participating players will face as a result of the fixture congestion, and losing him will be a big blow for Mikel Arteta.

Takehiro Tomiyasu hits out at Asia Cup schedule

Speaking to Standard Sport, Tomiyasu claimed that the tournament should be held in the summer months, like the European Championships and Copa America are.

“I want the Asian Cup to be played in June, the same as the Euros,” Tomiyasu stated.

“I don’t know why we are playing in January – not only the Asian Cup but AFCON as well. It’s not good for the players. But it is what it is and I will really try to come back with the title.”

Both AFCON and the Asia Cup will last a month between January and February, with Mohamed Elneny also set to feature for Egypt, whilst the likes of Mohamed Salah and Heung-Min Son will be missing for their clubs in this period.

How many Arsenal games will Tomiyasu miss?

Despite having just returned to action after missing a month of action, Tomiyasu is already set to miss Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Liverpool on Sunday.

The Asia Cup runs between January 12th and February 10th, and Japan’s progress in the tournament will determine how long Tomiyasu is out for.

Having the tournaments in the middle of the season comes as a big disadvantage for Premier League players and clubs, as Tomiyasu would be starting if he remained at the club given Ben White’s injury problems and Oleksandr Zinchenko’s poor form.

Tomiyasu has been excellent at times this season, but he has also been unlucky with injury, and Mikel Arteta will have to cope without his most versatile defender for potentially another month whilst he is away.

Japan will face Jordan, Vietnam and Iran in the group stages of the tournament, and as one of the favourites to win the competition, it is expected that they will go far enough that Tomiyasu could miss the next five Arsenal matches.