Thomas Tuchel interested in signing 25-year-old Arsenal star at Bayern Munich: Reports 

Thomas Tuchel is reportedly still keen on signing Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu at Bayern Munich after missing out on the defender in the recently concluded summer transfer window.

As per Football.London, Bayern monitored Tomiyasu's situation at the Emirates in the summer. The Japan international arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2021 from Bologna for a fee of €18.6 million and has since played in every position in defense.

This season, Mikel Arteta has largely used Tomiyasu as a full-back, fielding him on either flank according to his need. His importance to the squad would have increased after summer signing Jurrien Timber suffered a serious ACL injury in August.

Bayern nevertheless retain an interest in Tomiyasu and could make a move to sign him in the summer of 2024, when the player enters the last year of his contract. A January move is apparently not being targeted due to his participation with Japan at the Asian Cup, which will take place in Qatar from 12 January to 10 February.

It is worth mentioning that despite Timber's injury, Tomiyasu isn't seen as a pinned starter. Just three of his 10 Premier League appearances this season have seen him feature in the starting XI.

The 25-year-old was named in Japan's squad for their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers earlier this month. But he was completely left out of their matchday squad in their 5-0 win against Myanmar on 16 November.

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta rates Takehiro Tomiyasu very highly

It remains to be seen how Mikel Arteta will react to Bayern Munich's potential move for Takehiro Tomiyasu, given what he has said about the defender in the recent past.

Speaking before Arsenal's 4-0 league win against Bournemouth on 30 September, the Spanish tactician lauded Tomiyasu's all-round game and said (h/t Arseblog.news):

"always said that I’m really confident that the moment Tomi has consistency, he’s going to be a tremendous asset for us. He already is. He can play in any position in the backline, any formation in the backline, we don’t have another player like him. At defending, he’s probably one of the best that I’ve seen in many situations.

"His concepts, his principles, the way he applies that, the way he goes into duels…now he needs a run of games so that physically he’s at his best. If physically, Tomi is at his best, we’re going to have a player that is so important for us. Especially the way he reads danger."

Tomiyasu's latest appearance for Arsenal came in their 3-1 league win against Burnley on 11 November. He played the full 90 minutes at right-back as the Gunners won all three points at the Emirates.