Takehiro Tomiyasu has sent a message to the fans after suffering a season-ending injury in Arsenal’s recent match against Sporting CP.

Arsenal confirmed on Tuesday that Takehiro Tomiyasu had suffered a significant injury to his right knee, and he’s undergone successful surgery on the problem earlier that same day.

The club wrote that Tomiyasu is ruled out for the remainder of the season, but the good news is that they suggested a pre-season return was a possibility.

That suggests the injury wasn’t an ACL tear, as ACL injuries tend to rule players out for as long as a year. Pre-season is just three or four months away now.

All the same, it’s clearly a serious injury for the defender, so it was good to see him staying positive on his social media pages.

“Heads up and stay positive,” Tomiyasu wrote. “I believe that this is the opportunity to be a better person and player. Thank you for your warm message and support. See you soon!”

Tomiyasu had already pulled out of international duty with Japan, after being spotted on crutches at the Emirates Stadium.

The right-back hasn’t been part of Mikel Arteta’s first-choice side recently, with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, and Ben White making up the back four.

But perhaps that means it’s been overlooked how much of a part the 24-year-old has played in the season so far.

The Japan international has played 32 times this season, providing cover at both right-back and left-back. He was particularly influential starting in the win over Liverpool in October, and his absence cuts Arteta’s options for the upcoming trip to Anfield.

Excluding the first-choice eleven, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira are the only two players to play more minutes than Tomiyasu for Arsenal this season.

Arsenal will now be sweating on Saliba’s fitness, as having both players out at once is particularly limiting for Arteta’s team selection process.