Arsenal: Will Takuma Asano Ever Be Seen In North London Again?

Arsenal has only just now welcomed Takuma Asano to North London and just as soon he is off on loan to Stuttgart. Next question: Will we ever see him again?

At the time, it was kind of sketchy. Arsenal needed a striker desperately and while all these ‘viable’ candidates were moving, Wenger was silent. And then he landed Takuma Asano from the Japanese J-League.

Although he was quick to point out that this was a move for the future, the timing was poor in every sense of the word and many wondered if Wenger was just blowing steam and he was our answer.

Well, Asano was recently denied his work permit to come play in England, so his photo shoot at the Emirates was a short-lived vacation and he is off to Stuttgart for a season long loan.

Asano will turn 22 this year, and while there is no hurry to rush him into the Arsenal squad, especially after the Lucas Perez signing, we have to assume that he won’t be given the same dose of patience that a teenager would. Which brings me to my question.

Is it possible that we never see Asano at the Emirates again?

I may be getting ahead of myself, but it’s not like we haven’t been here before. We have seen what happens when you can’t secure a work visa (Wellington) and we have seen many Asian players with all the potential in the world (Ryo Miyaichi, Park Chu-young). None of those names ever made even a dent at Arsenal. Ryo made two appearances in the league cup, Chu-young made one league and six cup appearances and Wellington was sold just as he acquired his visa.

It’s not exactly unheard of.

It was exciting to think that Asano will add to our future striker crop, but we also have to be keenly aware that both Chuba Akpom and Donyell Malen are still on the books, with Stephy Mavididi with them. Akpom is on the brink of being something (we assume) and Donyell Malen is a world beater in the making. Mavididi is quite the talent as well.

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All three of these young strikers will be higher up on the totem pole as they are already with Arsenal and they have been.

Even if Asano returns and earns his visa next year, he will be competing with Akpom with another year of experience, Malen one year closer to excellence and Mavididi with another year as well. I can’t imagine Asano hanging around to duke it out in the U21 squad if those three are already there. Plus, Asano will be 22, so it seems kind of silly to not send him out on loan again.

And then the loan train begins. Ask Joel Campbell how that goes.

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I’m getting ahead of myself, obviously. While I am still very excited to see Asano, I have to remind myself that history is not in his favor. He is going to have to do something special to make a dent here at Arsenal.

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