Speaking to Charles Watts’ YouTube channel, Sint-Truiden Sporting Director Andre Pinto has been speaking about his former player Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Tomiyasu joined Arsenal on deadline day this summer, but it was Pinto that first brought him to Europe before he eventually moved to Fiorentina.
Tomiyasu has been making waves since arriving in England. Arsenal have won every game he’s been involved in so far and he’s yet to be dribbled past.
Pinto believes that one of the Japan international’s greatest attributes is his mentality, claiming that he has a mindset similar to Cristiano Ronaldo.
What’s been said?
Pinto had nothing but good things to say about Tomiyasu.
“What is amazing about Tomi is that he doesn’t accept anything that isn’t success,” Pinto said
“He’s not lucky, nothing for Tomi comes because he’s lucky. He’s just a hard working player.
“You find a lot of dedicated players, but Tomi has a little bit of the Cristiano Ronaldo mentality in terms of determination, in terms of working hard and in terms of eating healthy.
“He is the type of player who is never satisfied. He will always continue to work hard to keep developing himself.”
Future superstar
If Tomiyasu does indeed have this kind of mindset, then there’s no reason why he can’t go on to become one of the very best defenders in the world.
Physically, he is fantastic. He’s very fast, two-footed and strong as an ox, and if he can continue to highlight areas for improvement and work on them, he could become an elite defender.
Tomiyasu already looks like a bargain at £17m, but if he continues to improve and work hard he could go down as one of the best signings Arsenal ever make.
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