Who Is Takehiro Tomiyasu: Early Life, Education, Career, Personal Life, Net Worth

Sally Polly June 12, 2022 | 06:00

Takehiro Tomiyasu is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a center-back or right-back for Premier League club Arsenal and the Japan national team. Take a look at his full biography below.

Beginning his career at Avispa Fukuoka, Tomiyasu had a spell with Belgian club Sint-Truiden and Italian club Bologna before joining Arsenal in 2021. He was also called up for Japan's senior team in 2018, having previously played for various youth levels.

Here is Takehiro Tomiyasu’s early life, education, career, personal life, and net worth.

Who Is Takehiro Tomiyasu?

Photo: Getty Images

Takehiro Tomiyasu is a Japanese footballer who plays as a defender for Arsenal.

The 23-year-old right-back signed for Arsenal from Bologna in the summer of 2021 and quickly established himself as a regular in the first team at The Emirates.

Tomiyasu had moved to Italy in 2019 after a spell in Belgium following a move to Europe from his native homeland of Japan.

He played for Belgian side Sint-Truidense between 2018 and 2019 and then secured a transfer to Italian outfit Bologna in the summer of 2019.

Tomiyasu went on to make 64 appearances in all competitions for the Serie A side before he completed a transfer to Arsenal in the summer of 2021.

The full-back made his debut for the senior Japan national team in October 2018, and scored his first goal for his country in January 2019.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Early Life

Photo: Evening Standard

Nicknamed Tomi, Takehiro was born to his mother, Yasuko Tomiyasu, in Fukuoka, on 5 November 1998. Fukuoka is the 6th biggest city in Japan, well-known for its beautiful castles and a great Buddha temple. It is Jpan's main island of Kyusha, which reportedly, this city is the most futuristic city in terms of architecture in the country.

Takehiro is the youngest child of his family, and probably like other last-born children, have gotten much more attention from his parents and relatives. Takehiro comes from a family, which sports have been part of each member's life, his parents and two older sisters.

In Takehiro Tomiyasu's family, every person is an athlete who has specialized and has excelled in different sports. As the youngest member, Takehiro followed in his sisters' footsteps and chose the same sport they had selected.

When Takehiro found swimming interesting, his parents enrolled him in the same swimming school as his sisters. However, the occurrence of some events during Takehiro Tomiyasu early life led him to leave swimming.

Things did not go as his parents had planned for their son. An unfortunate accident, which caused an injury in Takehiro's mouth, ended Takehiro's dream of the following swimming.

One they, Takehiro and his sisters, which were on the way to swimming school, decided to take a stroll to their grandmother's house before going to school. Unfortunately, an accident occurred exactly inside their Grandma's house, and Tkehiro got injured.

Later, he described that moment and said, "As I was riding a treadmill indoors, I fell and injured my mouth. I could not put it in water for a while." His injury caused several stitches in his mouth. Due to the wound, Takehiro could not go to a swimming pool and had to wait until its fully cured.

The young child even had many difficulties chewing food. All these stories ended Takehiro's swimming hobby, and he never followed swimming like his sisters. Although the painful story was an end in swimming for the young swimmer, the accident led him to focus on football, the field in which he later appeared successfully.

Kanji Tsuji is the football coach who found an excellent talent in playing football in Takehiro and tried to convince his parents to help their son follow football. Thankfully, his parents, who were interested in helping their child choose another sport instead of swimming, accepted Kanji Tsuji's suggestion.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Family

Kendo is one kind of modern Japanese martial art family, which comes from swordsmanship. In the sport, the athlete uses bamboo swords beside other protective armor. Takehiro's mother is a professional athlete in track and field, and her daughters have followed swimming and now are professionals at the sports.

Takehiro has said that he has learned much from his parents, notably his mother. She is the woman who managed a family made up of sportspeople, which is not an easy job at all.

Although the diligent mother has been a successful sportswoman, he has done her home and raised her children well. Tracing Takehiro's birthplace Fukuoka will reveal his origin to Hichiku, a Japanese language dialect.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Career

Photo: Pain in the Arsenal

After working his way through the youth set-up at Avispa Fukuoka, he established himself as a first-team regular at the club in 2017.

In total, Tomiyasu made 54 first team appearances for the Japanese side, scoring one goal, from 2015 to 2017. In January 2018, Tomiyasu was on the move to Europe.

On 8 January 2018, Belgian side Sint-Truidense announced a deal to sign Tomiyasu, with the defender signing an initial three-and-a-half year contract with the club until the summer of 2021.

Tomiyasu made his first-team debut for the Belgian club on 12 May 2018 as a late substitue in a 2–1 win against Royal Antwerp.

He was a regular fixture in the Sint-Truidense first team in the 2018-19 season, scoring one goal in 40 games in all competitions in that particular campaign.

Tomiyasu, who was mainly being deployed as a centre-half, scored his first and only goal for Sint-Truidense on 25 November 2018 in a 4–2 win against Anderlecht.

Tomiyasu’s impressive performances for the Belgian side had caught the eye of Bologna in Italy, and the defender was on the move again in the summer of 2019.

Bologna

Photo: Feauture Football

On 9 July 2019, Bologna announced that they had agreed a deal to sign Tomiyasu from Sint-Truidense. The transfer fee was reported to be around €7m at the time.

Speaking after completing his move to the Italian club, Tomiyasu said of Serie A: “I have the impression that the defensive tactics are finely prepared. The level of the striker is also very high.”

He added: “I chose this team because I wanted to learn detailed defensive individual tactics. I want to aim to be on the pitch first.”

Tomiyasu made his first-team debut for Bologna on 18 August 2019 in a 3–0 win against Pisa in the first round of the Coppa Italia.

He scored is first goal for Bologna on in a 5-1 defeat by AC Milan away from home on 18 July 2020.

Tomiyasu spent two full seasons at Bologna, and he scored three goals in 64 games in all competitions for the Italian side before a transfer to the Premier League beckoned.

Arsenal

Arsenal completed a deal to sign Tomiyasu from Bologna on transfer deadline day – 31 August 2021. He signed a “long-term” contract with the north London club and the transfer fee was reported to be worth around £16m plus bonuses at the time.

The Athletic reported that Arsenal’s north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur were also interested in signing Tomiyasu earlier in the same transfer window. He was handed the number 18 shirt at Arsenal.

“I am buzzing to be here because Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and to play in the Premier League was my big dream when I was young, so I am happy to be here,” Tomiyasu told Arsenal’s in-house media channel after the transfer was announced. “I never imagined that I could play as a player for Arsenal, so I am excited.”

Speaking following the announcement of the transfer, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta explained why he was a keen admirer of the Japan international.

“Takehiro is a strong defender with good experience in Serie A and at international level,” said Arteta at the time. “He’s a versatile defender with great defensive qualities, high technical ability and composure on the ball. He will be an important member of our squad.”

Tomiyasu made his debut for Arsenal on 11 September 2021, featuring in a 1-0 victory against Norwich City in the Premier League.

He was named as the club’s player of the month for September following his impressive displays in the wake of his move to north London.

International Career

After having represented Japan at various youth levels, Tomiyasu made his first appearance for the senior team on 12 October 2018, when he started in a 3-0 victory against Panama.

He scored his first goal for the senior team in a 1–0 win against Saudi Arabia to help Japan reach the semi–finals of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in January 2019.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Girlfriend

It is undeniable that finding love and being in a romantic relationship is the best feeling ever for all people. It is especially true for the ones whose jobs are full of stress, such as footballers. The fact about Takehiro Tomiyasu girlfriend is that, though the young footballer looks handsome enough to attract any girls, it seems that he is single.

Takehiro Tomiyasu net worth

Photo: Football Talk

and the amount of money he earns. First of all, the Japanese defender makes money by playing football as a professional player.

His contracts, salaries, bonuses, and endorsements are Takehiro's income sources. His current contract has been with Arsenal, which through signing a four-year deal, he joined the club for a fee of around £17 million (€20m). Some sources have estimated his net worth as $4 million, his salary as £676.000, and market value around €20 million in 2021.

Takehiro Tomiyasu Honors

Following the admirations regarding the playing style of Takehiro Tomiyasu can reveal how much he is talented and how successful he has appeared on the pitch. Alberto Zaccheroni, the former Japan manager, stressed that the manager Sinisa Mihajlovic's decision about using the young player in the first team is perfect.

Japan U-19

AFC U-19 Championship in 2016

Japan

AFC Asian Cup: Runner-up in 2019

Individual

IFFHS AFC Man Team of the Year in 2020

IFFHS AFC Men's Team of the Decade 2011-2020

Style of play

Playing in either the right-back or center-back positions, Tomiyasu is known for being physical, as well as his strong defending structure.

His performance at Sint-Truiden was so impressive that Voetbal Nieuws named him "The Best Eleven of Foreign Players Who Have Left from the Jupiler League". Former teammate Pol García praised Tomiyasu for his attitude, while former Italy international defender Cristian Zaccardo praised his strong and energetic performances. Bologna’s technical coach Emilio De Leo said about Tomiyasu’s performances, saying: "He has the ability to read and manipulate time and space in a modern way." The club manager Marco Di Vaio agreed, saying: "Tomiyasu immediately impressed us because he is very good with his feet and knows how to adapt to all defense roles." National Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport praised Tomiyasu's performance, saying: "He is a treasure. The key to reinforcing Bologna".

Manuel Minguzzi, a reporter for Tuttobologna, said about his performance: "Fans can always expect maximum professionalism and commitment from Tomiyasu. As a fullback he did very well, while as a central he made some mistakes, but in Serie A it is quite normal because adaptation is needed. Tomiyasu also possesses great qualities when building the game. I was very struck by the fact that in the first year of Serie A he immediately became the protagonist. He had been taken as a central defender but was often used as a full-back offering both phases of play. As soon as he arrived he became an idol. The Japanese market is always very active on social networks and Bologna has expanded its popularity thanks to Tomiyasu." Former Japan manager Alberto Zaccheroni praised manager Siniša Mihajlović for using Tomiyasu regularly in the first team, saying: "He was good but not malicious, Mihajlovic did a great job making him play a full-back year, in less risky areas, and then use him as a central player after gaining experience."

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