Arsenal: Takuma Asano ‘set back’ gives more to look forward to

Arsenal won’t be getting Takuma Asano back this summer, which is being reported as a bad thing, but it just gives us something further to look forward to.

Arsenal’s early 2015/16 was the cause for a lot of criticism. Between Rob Holding and Takuma Asano, Arsene Wenger had landed two players at positions of great importance. The problem was that they were unknowns and people thought the transfers would stop there.

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Well, they didn’t. And it lead to those two early signings being seen for what they really were – exciting prospects. Of course, Holding stomped all over that assessment by being a modern day badass, but as far as Takuma Asano goes, it was all about the future.

It’s now being reported that Asano would remain on loan at Stuttgart following his work permit being denied, as well as the stipulations of him being returned not being met. I’ll let the Metro lay it out there for you, since they said it perfectly:

"There were three stipulations that Arsenal included in his move that could enable them to recall him prematurely. Either Stuttgart remained in the second division, Asano played fewer than 25 appearances or he became eligible for a work permit to play in the Premier League."

There you have it. To summarize in my own terms, Asano is not coming back because A) he did too well in the second tier of German football and B) his permit was denied.

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Which is hardly a set back, right? If anything it’s just something that we can get excited about for next year. Asano was never going to fit into the current Arsenal set up. Especially with so many strikers on the table being pursued by Wenger.

And this will be good for Asano. He had a solid year with Stuttgart, scoring five goals and assisting on four in over 25 appearances, which helped his loan side get promoted to the Bundesliga. That is exciting.

It also means that Asano will be plying his trade in the Bundesliga next year, which will give us a better vantage point to see how he handles top tier competition. There aren’t a lot of expectations on Asano, and there will be even less when Arsenal land a striker this summer, but seeing him put up similar stats in the Bundesliga will put a lot of belief in his ability to actually make it at the Emirates.

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So no, this is no cause for concern. Asano wasn’t going to be ready this year anyway, so getting him some traction with the same team is the next best thing.