Reports on social media suggest Takehiro Tomiyasu’s season may be over, with the player possibly needing an operation on his latest injury.

Writing on Twitter, injury analyst Ben Dinnery suggested Takehiro Tomiyasu “may not play again this season”. In response, football insider LeakedLineups wrote that they’re pretty sure Tomiyasu needs an operation and his season is done.

Whilst these are unverified reports for the time being, they’re certainly consistent with Mikel Arteta’s comments on the defender.

“We don’t know. The doctor is assessing,” Arteta said of Tomiyasu at the weekend. “We have one assessment and I think they need to have another assessment tomorrow. It’s not looking good.

“Tomi is not one to exaggerate things. He was really concerned straight away and we are concerned.”

Tomiyasu quickly pulled out of international duty with Japan, and he’s been spotted on crutches at the Emirates Stadium. It’s hard to find any encouraging signs on the injury right now, and it looks like he’ll miss the final 10 games of the campaign.

Tomiyasu isn’t part of Mikel Arteta’s first-choice side at the moment, 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.

If he ends up missing the rest of the campaign, it will be a blow to Arsenal, particularly if injured teammate William Saliba is also out for any serious length of time.