Japan’s Takuma Asano came on as a substitute and scored the winner in Japan’s Group E fixture against the 2014 World Cup winners Germany on Wednesday. 

Asano helped Japan produce the second big shocker in the World Cup after Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina yesterday. 

Also read: 5 times when Japan shocked the football world

However, this is not the first time that Asano has made headlines. He war signed by Arsenal in 2016 as their second summer signing by former manager Arsene Wenger. Wenger had described him as “a talented young striker and very much one for the future.”

Ultimately, Asano could not play in the Premier League as he was refused a work permit to play in England. He was then loaned out to VfB Stuttgart and Hannover 96 in 2016-17 season and the 2017-18 season respectively.

Eventually, he went as a permanent signing to  Partizan in Serbia in 2019, and his dream to play in the Premier League remained unfulfilled.