Official: Arsenal sign Takuma Asano

Arsenal have agreed a deal in principle to sign young Japanese forward Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

The transfer of the 21-year-old Japan international is subject to the completion of a medical and regulatory processes.

A number of clubs were after Takuma’s signature and Arsène Wenger said: “Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future. He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years.”

Making his full debut for the Japan national team in August 2015, Takuma has made five appearances for his country and is expected to be a part of their squad for the Rio Olympics in August.

Takuma signed for Sanfrecce Hiroshima as an 18-year-old in January 2013 and enjoyed great success with the J-League side, making 56 appearances and scoring 11 goals.

During this time, Takuma won the J1 League in 2013 and 2015, the Japanese Super Cup in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and was voted as the J-League ‘Rookie of the Year’ in 2015.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160702/arsenal-agree-deal-for-japan-forward

Is this real life?

Prayers = Answered.

Will scout him during the Olymipcs

It's highly unlikely he'll receive a work permit to play in the UK (unless we get a special talent visa for him) so he'll need to go on loan. Germany would be a good destination for him as Japanese players tend to do well there. Maybe Augsburg since they were interested in him before.

He's already got 5 caps for Japan. If he plays enough games this season he could qualify for a permit sooner than we think.

Why would you even bother to 'scout him at the Olympics' when he will never play a single PL game for Arsenal?

Because I like to watch all Arsenal players play when the opportunity arises so I can actually have an informed opinion about them, regardless of their future prospects.

Welcome To Arsenal
that was quick

Hapless_Hans wrote:Why would you even bother to 'scout him at the Olympics' when he will never play a single PL game for Arsenal?

lol Hans, please get out of our celebratory thread.

Jaguar made itttt!!!!!!!

He definitely should get a work permit. Won the Jleague last year, played for the national side, and is established. If miyaichi, a guy who couldnt do anything against kids in the high school tournament, got one then Jaguar gets one easy.

I wonder how much he will be paid a week? His family looks big and poor going by all the fluff pieces shown about him in recent days.


He has to PLAY though. He can't be signed and ride the bench. That helps nobody.

Kid has a lot of potential. Been an avid follower of his ever since I saw him in RG's avatar a few days ago.

Actual details of the transfer (like fee, wages, contract length) are scarce at the moment. No mention of work permit issues either. Seen some mention he'll train with Arsenal's first team and is expected to be loaned out.

11 goals in 56 appearances? Must be surely a wider player, then. One for the future but... 2nd place PL finish and the competition is strengthening heavily... Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Arsenal may well still sign that established player. Asano arriving shouldn't prevent that from happening and I don't get why fans all over twitter have convinced themselves it will - if anything prevents Arsenal from signing another forward it'll be Wenger's reluctance to spend the money.

Never understood why these sorts of signings inspire so much incredulity and rage from our fans.

Sushi Master wrote:11 goals in 56 appearances? Must be surely a wider player, then. One for the future but... 2nd place PL finish and the competition is strengthening heavily... Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Nah hes a striker....

Those are terrible numbers no doubt.

So happy that my favourite young talent has signed for us.

Yōkoso Asano-kun


Let's not forget he is 21 and last season was his first season as a regular. Hoping to see him play for us so if we can get the special talent visa then that'd be great.

Or else can loan him to bundesliga for a while.

Hope this turns out better than Miyaichi

Betty La Fea wrote:

He definitely should get a work permit. Won the Jleague last year, played for the national side, and is established. If miyaichi, a guy who couldnt do anything against kids in the high school tournament, got one then Jaguar gets one easy.

I wonder how much he will be paid a week? His family looks big and poor going by all the fluff pieces shown about him in recent days.


He has to PLAY though. He can't be signed and ride the bench. That helps nobody.

Is that true about miyaichi lol?

I would assume Asano will get paid around 30-40k p/w

lmao he has posters of Torres, Suarez and...Rooney in his room

Jay29 wrote:

Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Arsenal may well still sign that established player. Asano arriving shouldn't prevent that from happening and I don't get why fans all over twitter have convinced themselves it will - if anything prevents Arsenal from signing another forward it'll be Wenger's reluctance to spend the money.

Never understood why these sorts of signings inspire so much incredulity and rage from our fans.

I do not reject the possibility of that happening, and do not put as much emphasis on Wenger not spending when needed (he spend big with Ozil and Sanchez, what really prevents big signings are probably him meticulously searching for players that will adapt to his system), but my worry is that as days pass, and other PL clubs have gone on important signings, Arsenal are, as always, lagging behind other PL clubs. Pretty much every signing other PL clubs have made could have added to this team (Ibra on a free with no CL football? Jesus).

So then we have a last week panic buy, or maybe we get a class player, but obviously at inflated prices due to the short time the opposing club would have to replace or reinvest. This negates whatever saving mentality Wenger might have. So, IMO, if you really need a player, just frakking splash the cash and buy him. That's just how the market works and Wenger is still in the Stone Age.

Betty La Fea wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:11 goals in 56 appearances? Must be surely a wider player, then. One for the future but... 2nd place PL finish and the competition is strengthening heavily... Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Nah hes a striker....

Those are terrible numbers no doubt.

I am not saying he's a bad player, and that he might not one day become a class striker (remember Henry started out as a winger), but those are extremely shitty numbers when playing in the frakking Japanese league.

Usually when you come off the Eredivise or something and are actually a good striker, you have inflated numbers correlated to the quality of the defenders in the league, tactics, etc. I'm not a stat sucker, but in a striker goals are actually a pretty important indicator of the type of player you are. If he's actually playing down the center and not in an inside forward, Kommander role, those are very shitty numbers...

Betty La Fea wrote:Jaguar made itttt!!!!!!!

He definitely should get a work permit. Won the Jleague last year, played for the national side, and is established. If miyaichi, a guy who couldnt do anything against kids in the high school tournament, got one then Jaguar gets one easy.

I wonder how much he will be paid a week? His family looks big and poor going by all the fluff pieces shown about him in recent days.


He has to PLAY though. He can't be signed and ride the bench. That helps nobody.

Japanese news totally look like their anime equivalents. Mind blown.

So it look like he does play down the center.

Good pace, decent dribbling, no heading ability, fishy finishing

Totally just waiting for those Ozil passes to shine.

Welcome to Arsenal, Takuma

Any player who sounds like a Zelda boss is welcome.

Love it that the music changed to sinister when they mentioned Ryo and Inamoto

RealGunner wrote:Love it that the music changed to sinister when they mentioned Ryo and Inamoto

Ryo was talented but he was just too frail. The jump from high school football to pro football proved to be too much

I do not reject the possibility of that happening, and do not put as much emphasis on Wenger not spending when needed (he spend big with Ozil and Sanchez, what really prevents big signings are probably him meticulously searching for players that will adapt to his system), but my worry is that as days pass, and other PL clubs have gone on important signings, Arsenal are, as always, lagging behind other PL clubs. Pretty much every signing other PL clubs have made could have added to this team (Ibra on a free with no CL football? Jesus).

So then we have a last week panic buy, or maybe we get a class player, but obviously at inflated prices due to the short time the opposing club would have to replace or reinvest. This negates whatever saving mentality Wenger might have. So, IMO, if you really need a player, just frakking splash the cash and buy him. That's just how the market works and Wenger is still in the Stone Age.

I don't disagree, really. For all the reasons why Arsenal shouldn't sign a player, a bloated transfer fee shouldn't be one of them now (it's far easier to balance the books when over a £100mil of TV money is entering the coffers every year). But this has nothing to do with Asano. He's not an alternative to anyone, just the next in a long line of strategic purchases that may or may not pay off.

And as far as other business goes, I doubt Arsenal have plunged all their manpower into signing Asano. They'll be working on other deals, whatever they may be. Maybe we'll hear more rumours now that the Copa is over and the Euros are ending. Compared to other years Arsenal's business actually got off to a fast start with the Xhaka signing and the whole Vardy thing. Vardy rejecting us was a set-back but had he signed I don't believe people would be as worried as they are. Unfortunately, it's going to take time to negotiate a deal for other targets. Not to mention the general lull in activity due to international competitions.

Basically, we have to be patient. Nobody has finished their business at this point.

RealGunner wrote:

Betty La Fea wrote:

He definitely should get a work permit. Won the Jleague last year, played for the national side, and is established. If miyaichi, a guy who couldnt do anything against kids in the high school tournament, got one then Jaguar gets one easy.

I wonder how much he will be paid a week? His family looks big and poor going by all the fluff pieces shown about him in recent days.


He has to PLAY though. He can't be signed and ride the bench. That helps nobody.

Is that true about miyaichi lol?

I would assume Asano will get paid around 30-40k p/w  

Not only is it true, but after hyping him and his little school up they showed their first round match on tv thinking it was a way to show how awesome he was. They got absolutely demolished.


^^^Apparently losing 10-2 in the FIRST ROUND gets you a special talent visa

Sushi Master wrote:

Jay29 wrote:

Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Arsenal may well still sign that established player. Asano arriving shouldn't prevent that from happening and I don't get why fans all over twitter have convinced themselves it will - if anything prevents Arsenal from signing another forward it'll be Wenger's reluctance to spend the money.

Never understood why these sorts of signings inspire so much incredulity and rage from our fans.

I do not reject the possibility of that happening, and do not put as much emphasis on Wenger not spending when needed (he spend big with Ozil and Sanchez, what really prevents big signings are probably him meticulously searching for players that will adapt to his system), but my worry is that as days pass, and other PL clubs have gone on important signings, Arsenal are, as always, lagging behind other PL clubs. Pretty much every signing other PL clubs have made could have added to this team (Ibra on a free with no CL football? Jesus).

So then we have a last week panic buy, or maybe we get a class player, but obviously at inflated prices due to the short time the opposing club would have to replace or reinvest. This negates whatever saving mentality Wenger might have. So, IMO, if you really need a player, just frakking splash the cash and buy him. That's just how the market works and Wenger is still in the Stone Age.

Betty La Fea wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:11 goals in 56 appearances? Must be surely a wider player, then. One for the future but... 2nd place PL finish and the competition is strengthening heavily... Surely a more established player would be wiser?

Nah hes a striker....

Those are terrible numbers no doubt.

I am not saying he's a bad player, and that he might not one day become a class striker (remember Henry started out as a winger), but those are extremely shitty numbers when playing in the frakking Japanese league.

Usually when you come off the Eredivise or something and are actually a good striker, you have inflated numbers correlated to the quality of the defenders in the league, tactics, etc. I'm not a stat sucker, but in a striker goals are actually a pretty important indicator of the type of player you are. If he's actually playing down the center and not in an inside forward, Kommander role, those are very shitty numbers...

The numbers look really bad. He does pass the eye test.

Who knows it that will be enough in England though

Serious questions Jay, who are some of the elements of the 'long line of strategic puchases' you refer to, and which of them has paid off?