Player Analysis: Takehiro Tomiyasu

Japan has produced some fine exports to the Serie A for the last 25 years. Kazuyoshi Miura was a pioneer for Japanese footballers, becoming the first player from The Land of the Rising Sun to play in Italy when he joined Genoa in 1994. Attacking midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata played for Perugia, Roma, and Parma in the 1990s and 2000s, winning a Serie A title with the Giallorossi and a Coppa Italia with the Ducali.

Shunsuke Nakamura developed a reputation as a free-kick specialist while he was at Reggina in the mid-2000s and he was important to their achievements in surviving relegation. Keisuke Honda played for the AC Milan in the mid-2010s, and although the midfielder didn’t live up to expectations in a declining Rossoneri side, he did occasionally show flashes of brilliance.

In addition to those creative players, current Japanese captain Maya Yoshida joined Sampdoria in January 2020 to reinforce the defense. But six months before that, one of his younger compatriots joined Bologna. Takehiro Tomiyasu made his Japan debut at the age of 19 and he has been showing the potential to become a mainstay of the Samurai Blue defense for years to come.

The Felsinei purchased him for a reported figure of €9 million in the summer of 2019 and he signed a contract until June 2024 but he already had a sufficient amount of senior experience when he arrived at the Emilia-Romagna club.