Football: Arsenal agree deal for Japan forward Takuma Asano

Takuma Asano (center) dribbles the ball before Bosnia and Herzegovina's midfielder Haris Duljevic (left) while Japan's midfielder Yosuke Kashiwagi (right) looks on during their Kirin Cup soccer 2016 final match in Suita city, Osaka prefecture on June 7. PHOTO: AFP

LONDON (REUTERS) - Arsenal have agreed to sign 21-year-old Japan forward Takuma Asano from J-League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima subject to a medical check-up and regulatory processes, the English Premier League club said on Sunday.

Several teams had been chasing Asano, who has five caps after making his international debut in August last year and is expected to be a part of the Japan squad for the Rio Olympics.

"Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future. He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told www.arsenal.com.

Takuma joined Sanfrecce as an 18-year-old at the start of 2013 and scored 11 goals in 56 appearances. He won the J1 League in 2013 and 2015, the Japanese Super Cup in 2013, 2014 and last year, and was voted J-League Rookie of the Year last year.

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