Takehiro Tomiyasu admits last season was difficult for him, but he’s now feeling good and ready to play wherever the manager wants him.

Whilst Arsenal had a very strong 2022/23 campaign in general, Takehiro Tomiyasu had quite a difficult season on an individual level.

Losing his spot at right-back to Ben White, Tomiyasu only really got a run in the Premier League side at left-back, while Oleksandr Zinchenko was out injured.

The defender then had to undergo knee surgery, missing the final couple of months of the season and spending the summer recovering.

“It was a difficult period for me,” Tomiyasu said. “Ben White was doing very well and to be honest I lost confidence. But the injured period was four months and I thought about a lot of things at this time.

“You have good and bad moments but you need to learn a lot of things from the bad moments. Now I am feeling good, not only for the body, but my head also like career, yeah, it’s all positive.”

Though Tomiyasu has generally impressed for Arsenal at right-back, his injury record has made it hard for Mikel Arteta to rely on him.

Perhaps looking to address that, the Gunners went out and invested in Jurrien Timber of Ajax this summer.

But that doesn’t have to spell the end for the Japan international. Tomiyasu can also play at centre-back and at left-back, so he’s likely to get minutes on the pitch either way.

On that subject, the 24-year-old claims he doesn’t care which position Arteta puts him in.

“I just want to be on the pitch,” Tomiyasu insisted. “I want to play as much as I can and help the team. Which position, I don’t care. I haven’t spoken to the manager about it, I don’t know. I just want to help the team.”