English Premier League side Arsenal announced the signing Tuesday of Japan international defender Takehiro Tomiyasu on a full transfer from Bologna in the Italian top flight.
The London club paid a transfer fee of 19.8 million pounds ($27 million) to sign the 22-year-old Tomiyasu to a four-year deal, with an option for a one-year extension, British outlet Sky Sports reported.
A youth product of J-League side Avispa Fukuoka, Tomiyasu left Japan in January 2018 for Sint-Truiden in the Belgian top flight, where he was a standout before being bought by Bologna in the summer of 2019.
He has been capped 23 times by the Samurai Blue since his senior international debut against Panama in October 2018 and was a member of the Japanese Olympic side who finished fourth at the Tokyo Games this summer.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said Tomiyasu "will be an important member" of the club, which currently sit bottom of the table after opening the season with three straight defeats.
"He's a versatile defender with great defensive qualities, high technical ability and composure on the ball," Arteta said in a statement on the Arsenal site.
Tomiyasu follows in the footsteps of Japanese players Junichi Inamoto, Ryo Miyaichi and Takuma Asano in signing with the club, which remains one of the biggest names in English football despite struggling to compete with the top sides in recent years.
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