Arsenal target Takehiro Tomiyasu transfer hijack at Spurs

Takehiro Tomiyasu Could be Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin Replacement

It was fleetingly mentioned by Di Marzio that with Inter heavily pursuing Hector Bellerin this summer, Tomiyasu may be seen as the right-back’s replacement.

Not his favoured position – that is centre-back – he has been utilised there by Siniša Mihajlović, with 15 of his Serie A outings last term coming in the full-back slots.

The way Bologna play is to attack with a back three where Tomiyasu tucks into right centre-back and to defend with a flat back four. He may not possess explosiveness down the line but he takes big strides and can hit decent speed for someone for someone standing at nearly 6’2″.

Where Tomiyasu looks very strong is running back to goal in defensive transition. His speed is quite good but his deceleration stands out. Tackles made from behind are clean and the ability to stop quickly in his tracks slows down opposition breaks.

Not the archetypal bombarding right-back, he hits most of his passes into the channels and very few are into the box (1st percentile) via cross (4th percentile) or otherwise. Crosses are non-existent in his game – stats can be muddled between positions – but he makes an exceptional amount of blocks (99th percentile) compared to full-backs and is rarely ever dribbled past (99th percentile) partly due to the system Mihajlović adopts.

Working in tandem with a more expansive left-back like Kieran Tierney, the defensive traits of the 22-year-old could be more effective, especially when building in a back three formation.

However, he is a defender best suited to playing centre-back and while he’s quicker than Calum Chambers, Arsenal should be targeting high end options to fulfill roles they are most comfortable with.

Di Marzio is well informed in the Italian market and Arsenal will have made contact, yet for this one the logical reason behind that would be as a possible alternative to White in central defence. If that is the case though, are there fears over the deal coming off?

Tomiyasu is a really exciting defender with a big future, bags of energy and deserving of better than consecutive 12th place finishes in Serie A, but maybe the ol’ bitter Premier League rivals can win this one for a change.