Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that new signing Takehiro Tomiyasu may have to sit out the Gunners’ clash against Norwich on Saturday afternoon.
The Japanese international is fit, but Arteta says that the club are still trying to get a work permit for the defender so he can be in the matchday squad for the game this weekend:
“We need the work permit first. The club is trying hard to achieve that in the next couple of hours. He is back in the country right now.”
Brexit has made signing players from abroad a lot more cumbersome than it used to be. Despite Tomiyasu having signed from Bologna for £19m nine days ago, the documents that would allow him to work in this country have still not come through.
Arteta seems hopeful that will change by the weekend but, it must be pointed out, the fullback has barely had time to train with his new teammates after returning from international duty, so it would have been surprising if he was a genuine candidate to start versus the Canaries anyway.
