Inter Milan Target Arsenal Defender Takehiro Tomiyasu

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has been made Inter Milan’s No 1 transfer target for January and their price tag has been revealed, while a report claims Mikel Arteta has reluctantly ‘accepted he might lose the player’ mid-season.

Tomiyasu is a useful depth piece in what proved to be the meanest defence in the Premier League last season. However, with Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes all guaranteed starters across the backline, left-back is Tomiyasu’s best route to regular minutes.

But with Jurrien Timber and new recruit Riccardo Calafiori in situ, Tomiyasu’s outlook is bleak.

According to a fresh update from the Sun, Tomiyasu, 25, has emerged on the radars of Serie A trio Inter Milan, Juventus and Napoli. Of the three, Inter pose the biggest threat to Arsenal, with Simone Inzaghi’s side installing Tomiyasu as their ‘number one target for January.’

Adding further fuel to the fire is the claim Tomiyasu – described as a ‘favourite among supporters at the Emirates’ – is thought to be ‘open-minded to the idea of a move.’

As such, the report then claims Arteta ‘is understood to have accepted he might lose the player in the New Year.’

Regarding cost, the Sun concluded Arsenal will demand ‘at least £25m’ before greenlighting a sale.