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18th Jul 2016

Watch incoming Arsenal striker bawl his eyes out after last match for boyhood club

Emotions running high

Ben Kiely

Who needs Gonzalo Higuain when you can have…whoever this guy is?

When Arsenal announced the signing of Japan international Takuma Asano, the reaction in this part of the world was very muted.

While Gooners will be hopeful that the youngster will come good and light up the Premier League, there is a slight air of expectancy that Asano will have a similar fate to compatriots Junichi Inamoto and Ryo Myaichi. Both of the Japanese midfielders disappointed in North London, though Inamoto went on to impress elsewhere in England.

Asano played his last game for J-League outfit Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the weekend, after scoring more than 20 times since making his debut aged 18. After the match he bid farewell to the fans with an emotional speech.

The striker was tearing up even before he started speaking, but the waterworks began gushing when he wrapped everything up, just after a small child handed him a massive bouquet of flowers at around the 12-minute mark in the video below.

He was either heartbroken about departing the club he joined as a teenager or he’s already become resigned to the fact that the odds of making it at the Emirates are firmly stacked against him.

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