According to Di Marzio, Arsenal are keen on signing Takehiro Tomiyasu this summer, and it has to be said that he could be a real bargain.
The Bologna defender looks to be a real gem. He’s 22 years old and he’s already been named as one of the best Asian defenders of the past 10 years, making the IFFHS AFC Team of the Decade for the 2010s, despite only making his international debut in 2018 – that’s how impressive he has been.
At Bologna he’s been lauded as a ‘very strong’ defender and a ‘warrior’ and with the defender reportedly being available for as little as €17m (£15m), he’d represent good value.
Just compare him to another of Arsenal’s transfer targets in the shape of Ben White, and you can see that he’s genuinely a better option for the money the Gunners would have to spend.
Brighton reportedly want in excess of £50m for White, while Tomiyasu will cost less than a third that amount, and it’s hard to argue that White would be the better-value signing.
For a start, the Japan international has a lot more experience, making 60 Serie A appearances compared to White’s 36 games in the Premier League, while he also has 20 more international caps than his English counterpart.
Tomiyasu is also a younger player than White, he’s two-footed and he outdoes the Brighton defender in some key statistics according to WhoScored, making more tackles per game and averaging the same number of interceptions per game as the Seagulls’ star defender.
Of course, one of White’s big selling points is the fact that he’s brilliant at playing out from the back, but his pass success rate is only 1.1% higher than Tomiyasu’s, while the Japan international also plays more long balls per game.
So, if you’re Edu what do you do? Spend £50m on White, a player who isn’t better than Tomiyasu statistically and has less experience at the top-level, or bring Tomiyasu, who is younger, in for a fraction of the price? In our view, it’s a no-brainer.
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