My Arsenal Blog

While Borussia Dortmund’s Manchester bound playmaker Shinji Kagawa might be the hottest Asian player on the planet at present, but Arsenal believe that their own Japanese winger Ryo Miyaichi could be the next big thing to come from the Far East.

Gunners’ fans would have no doubt followed Miyaichi’s progress during Bolton’s ill-fated battle to avoid the drop this season. His ability to deliver a good ball on set plays was very evident, as were his rather decent finishing skills, showing exactly why Arsene Wenger was interested in the youngster.

However, it is interesting to see how a coach assesses the youngster’s first season in the Premier League, and new first team coach Neil Banfield had this to say about the Gunners’ dynamite sensation: “Ryo has come over and done ever so well. He had a period where he found it a bit tough, with the demands we were putting on him, but as his character is, he fought hard. He trained with the first team and went on loan to Bolton and has done well there.

“We will sit down in the summer and have a plan for all of our young players, and it will be the manager’s decision whether to bring him back or send him out on loan again if he feels he needs another year before he is ready for Arsenal. But he has done extremely well at Bolton.

“He has a good team ethic and individually he has done really well at times. He found it tough at times, but that is why they go out as well. it is about learning and he has come through it and found a way to establish himself in Bolton’s first team. I think another year for him next season would be good development for him.

“It depends how he comes back in pre-season and if the manager gauges whether he should stay here and play in the first-team squad.

Although Miyaichi has said he wishes to stay at Arsenal, it is not realistic to expect him to get many games with the the amout of classy more experienced wingers that are already at the Emirates. As much as we might want to see the Japanese youngster in action, chances are it could be another season long wait.

The young Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi has so impressed the Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni that he fully intends that he will be playing for his country in next weeks World Cup game against Uzbekistan.

Both teams have already qualified for the next round of Qualifiers so it is not so important, but Zaccheroni is adamant that he is not just being called up to get used to being around the national team as he has done with other youngsters like Bayern Munich’s Takashi Usami in the past.

Zaccheroni said yesterday: “When I called up Usami (last June) he wasn’t ready for full international level but he has a lot of quality and my opinion on him has not changed,”

“I called him up, as I did with Gaku Shibasaki and Yuya Kubo (for Friday’s friendly against Iceland), to give him experience of being with the national team.

“But Miyaichi did very well last season when he was playing in the Netherlands (on loan at Feyenoord from Arsenal) and is showing what he can do at Bolton this season so he is a bit of a different case. He is a step ahead of the others. I have called him up so he has a chance of playing.”

This speedy youngster has certainly impressed all watchers wherever he has played, and if he carries on improving he is a certainty to be a future star for Arsenal.