Ian Wright demands Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol to apologise for his ‘disrespect’ over Arsenal player Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The 23-year-old joined the club on transfer deadline day in a £17m move from Italian side Bologna, going on to impressed in an Gunners shirt.
He’s formed a key part in helping re-build Mikel Arteta’s side and putting in a number of brilliant performances to help his side up into the Premier League‘s top four.
Tomiyasu put in yet another excellent display at right-back during the 4-1 victory over Leeds on Saturday, however, while he now appears a shrewd signing, not everybody was convinced he would be a good bit of business for the North London outfit.
Speaking just after the deal had been confirmed, Solhekol shared a message he had received from an agent live on air which would have worried Arsenal fans.
Solkehol shared: “I’ve just got a message to say: ‘Tomiyasu was offered to most clubs in the Premier League. He’s a good player but the problem is that he’s not really a right-back, nor is he a central defender. I’m not sure how he will get on at Arsenal.'”
Solkehol and his co-presenters then started laughing, before he added: “This is a player who was trying to be placed at a Premier League club and he’s got his move to Arsenal.”
Tomiyasu has proved his doubters wrong, making that £17m fee very well spent.
He clearly has a fan in Wright, who tweeted a clip of the Sky Sports News report along with the caption: “Apologies as loud as the disrespect please!!!! @SkyKaveh.”
Apologies as loud as the disrespect please!!!!! @SkyKaveh pic.twitter.com/y6Uai6Qflu
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) December 19, 2021
Arsenal have turned their form around from two consecutive defeats against Manchester United and Everton to record three successive wins against Southampton, West Ham and Leeds.
They will go into the Christmas period full of confidence, hoping that finally they can get back into the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17.
Speaking after the win at Elland Road Arteta said: “I was really pleased. They understood exactly how we have to attack the space we have to use. The execution, the dynamism, the progression, the threat we generated – it was really good.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t score more. I think we had some big big chances but that’s what I like, the way we played, we came here and we imposed ourselves and we really wanted to play.
“That’s something we have to improve on because in the second half when the game is there, we didn’t do it as well and with the consistency that we need [to for] where we have to get to.
“You look at the games that they’ve played, obviously the last game at the Eithad was a different story but when they went to Stamford Bridge they gave Chelsea a real game and today I wasn’t expecting any different because every game they play, they play the same way.”
Tomiyasu was substituted shortly after the hour mark, and speaking after the game, Arteta said that the defender was not 100 percent fit to continue.
While the substitution was precautionary at the time, Arteta remains hopeful that it was nothing more than a minor niggle.
He told Arsenal.com: “No, it was more of a muscular injury.”
“He’s got a big load on him because he’s played every single minute since he’s joined us and even this week he’s been struggling a little bit.
“We decided to take him off, he wasn’t 100 per cent confident to continue in the game, and hopefully he’s not injured.”
Arsenal face League One Sunderland on Tuesday in an Carabao Cup quarter-final tie.
Twitter users reacted as Ian Wright demands the Sky Sports reporter to apologise for ‘disrespect’ over the Arsenal player…
@afcjxmes: Fucking legend man, needed to be said Ian. ❤️
@BikaSamuel: Turned out to be a better signing than Jack Grealish.
@Silkyremontada: Wrighty from deeeeeeep
@TJShalimar: Hahaha brilliant stuff @IanWright0.. when you’re ready @SkyKaveh!! #tommie #AFC
@Col00156481: Glad to see you calling him out too Ian. We the supporters have been asking that top sky pundit Keveh, for an apology this since the start of the season. 😂😂 Tomi has been just great hasn’t he 👏👏😃.
@mjjf11: Love it Wrighty. Tomiyasu been one of the most solid defenders in the league since he’s come in, looking to be a great bargain of a signing
@NeilFergus74: Love the way he pretends he’s been texted by an agent when he’s really just scrolling through Twitter.
@TomsTeamTalk: Please Wrighty, if you get the opportunity to be on TV with Kaveh, pull him up for this so we can watch him squirm 🤣
@quatermass_pitt: Kaveh getting petty because he doesn’t know the player Arsenal signed and his ego makes him that Tomiyasu must be bad. WRONG, Kaveh!
@leeashford8: This is what happens when you have people who have never kicked a ball making a living about discussing people who professionally kick a ball for a living!
@TovellTweets: Even as a spurs fan seeing this, I’d say I’m astonished, but I’m not. SS have been going downhill for years, remarkable that their “top two” journalists would laugh off a player like this. Completely unprofessional and extremely disrespectful to Tomiyasu, even beyond football.
@gleneire: Pen pushers shaking their heads and laughing at a professional footballer before they’ve even seen him play, they probably didn’t even Google him, where’s their journalistic integrity and basic respect for the man.
@DiveshRSA: Problem with most English pundits I see is they write off foreign players like this and they have never even seen them play. Dim Sherwood is the perfect example. He wrote off Ralf Rangnick as somebody nobody else wanted but he has no clue of his history or what he’s acheived.
@FmLoad: It’s just a lack of knowledge and research from people that are paid to do it. Tomiyasu was a fantastic player last season and a proper defender, which Arsenal desperately needed.
@KahrimanovicNed: I literally read scout report after we signed him, and it described him perfectly based on what we see now. He needed 5 min to do the same
@McginleySkin: By the holy fook, he must be some player in whatever his REAL position is. Playing out of position and he’s still the best right back in the league 😉
— Fuck Kroenke Love Arsenal (@OutKse) December 19, 2021
Why would a football agent be contacting a second rate reporter to see what clubs needed a right back? Also, why would that agent, who’s trying to sell the player, tell said 2nd rate reporter, that he doesn’t actually know what position the player plays.
— Ads (@Ads__________) December 19, 2021
Literally been better than every Spurs player this season including the joke of a right back you signed 🤣
— Luke Matthews (@___Matthews___) December 19, 2021
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