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Young Japanese striker Takuma Asano has been loaned to VfB Stuttgart for the season, meaning he’ll be spending his first year in Europe in the second division of the German league. Only 21 years old, Asano was viewed as a project for the future, and barring disaster was unlikely to see first team action with Arsenal this season, so this move allows him to get games in an actual league (rather than the reserves).
Asano impressed at the Olympics, scoring twice in two games for Japan (not South Korea, as the Standard inexplicably claimed this morning). Here is one of those goals! It’s pretty good, although he kind of looked offside. I’ll take it either way.
Between Asano and more familiar names like Donyell Malen and Jeff “JEFF!” Reine-Adelaide, Arsenal have a potentially impressive crop of young attackers coming through the ranks (not to mention those who have already made the first team like Alex Iwobi and Serge Gnabry).