Informer
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- Jul 29, 2006
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Arsenal are to sign the Japan striker Takuma Asano from the J-League club Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
The 21-year-old made his international debut in August last year and has made five appearances. The forward is expected to be named in Japan’s squad for the Olympic Games in Rio.
“Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. “He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years.”
The forward boosts Arsenal’s attacking options after their pursuit of Jamie Vardy ended in failure. “Vardy has decided to stay at Leicester and good luck to him,” Wenger said.
“He came late to the game and in fairness Leicester bought him from Fleetwood and he has been successful. He is 29 and he has chosen to stay at Leicester. You have to respect that.”
Asano, whose transfer is subject to a medical, is expected to train with the first‑team squad. He becomes the third Japanese player to play under Wenger at Arsenal, following the midfielders Junichi Inamoto and Ryo Miyaichi. He joins Granit Xhaka in signing for Arsenal this summer.
Wenger recently ruled out a move for N’Golo Kanté, the France midfielder who impressed during his first season in the Premier League at Leicester. Claudio Ranieri has signed Nampalys Mendy from Nice, with the player widely thought to be a replacement for Kanté.
Wenger said: “Kanté is on the list of many clubs. It is an area where we have many players. We will see what happens in the next two or three weeks. It looks like Leicester have bought a player from Nice with similar qualities to Kanté, so whether they envisage to lose him or not I don’t know.”
