Takehiro Tomiyasu OUT For The Rest Of The Season With A Serious Knee Injury.

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury.

The right-back had injured himself after lunging into a tackle, as he limped off in the ninth minute of the Europa League round-of-16 second leg clash against Sporting CP last Thursday.

Tomiyasu, who was replaced by Ben White, left the Emirates Stadium in crutches, as the Gunners were knocked out of the Europa League after losing to Sporting Lisbon 5-3 via penalty shootout.

 Manager Mikel Arteta was asked about Tomiyasu's condition after the game, but he didn't sound confident; "Tomiyasu looks pretty serious from his reaction straight [away] and what he said to me, but obviously, it's very early." 

The Japan international was also forced to sit out of the Gunners' 4-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Now, it has been confirmed that Tomiyasu will be out of action, missing the remainder of the season after undergoing a successful surgery on the injury.

This is a huge blow to Arsenal's hopes of winning the Premier League, as Tomiyasu won't play anymore part in their title push. 

The former Bologna defender is a key figure inside the Gunners dressing room, although he has been sparsely used this season. 

Tomiyasu has featured in 21 of their 28 Premier League matches despite starting just six of them, with Ben White often preferred in the right-back position.

He can also play on the left side of defence, but has been battling for playing time with with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney playing same position.

In all competitions, Tomiyasu has featured in 32 matches for Arsenal team this season. He is expected to return ahead of pre-season, with a view to be back at the start of next season.