Ex-Arsenal star eyes Real Madrid shock after Prem stint lasted just three days
EXCLUSIVE: Japanese international forward Takuma Asano never got the chance to make his debut for Arsenal but rebuilt his career in Germany before moving to La Liga with Mallorca
Takuma Asano is determined to cause a shock against Real Madrid with his RCD Mallorca team on Wednesday, but in a different timeline he might have faced Los Blancos this season while wearing a different shade of red. The Japan forward joined Arsenal in 2016, at the age of just 21, but work permit issues meant he left without playing a single minute for the Gunners.
Now 30, Asano - who scored a memorable winner for Japan against Germany at the 2022 World Cup - hasn't let that stop him getting to the top. He played more than 100 times in the Bundesliga, and has added more than 20 La Liga outings this season, joining a proud tradition of Japanese players to represent Mallorca over the years.
"I think every experience makes me [who I am] now and I always look to the future and what I want to be as a player," Asano tells Mirror Football. "But I need to focus on now, at the moment, always, and I try to be professional at every moment. Every experience like that makes it for me."
Mallorca can keep their European push alive with a result against Madrid. More than 20 years have passed since they last qualified for a UEFA competition, but things have been picking up under an American ownership group including former Premier League star Stu Holden.
They reached the final of the Copa del Rey last season, losing to Athletic Club on penalties, but have their fate in their hands when it comes to European qualification this term. A final day trip to Rayo Vallecano could end up being a straight shoot-out for a Conference League slot, but Asano is taking it one game at a time.
"For me, every game is the same," he says. "I know the next game is against Real Madrid and it is of course a difficult game, it's really not easy for us. But on the other hand we have a possibility to win if we play at 100 percent, if we can play well.
"We just need to focus about us playing 100 percent, doing what we can do. I don't care about the next game after Real Madrid, I just need to focus against Real Madrid. After that it's the same."
Madrid themselves are coming off a 4-3 defeat in El Clasico, with Asano impressed by the high level shown by both sides. Carlo Ancelotti's side weren't able to do the same against Asano's old employers Arsenal in the Champions League, though, falling to a 5-1 aggregate defeat.
Asano's own time at Arsenal was, regrettably, very brief. Even so, his flying visit to North London taught him a great deal about where he stood as a player at the age of 21, and gave him the motivation to make the most of his opportunity in Europe.
"I was in Arsenal for three days or something like that, to sign the contract and then to say hello to everyone," he recalls. "I trained just one day in Arsenal and after that I went to Stuttgart, I couldn't get a permit for England. It was unlucky for me but everything is connected to [where i am] now.
"Honestly, I wanted to play for Arsenal but I couldn't, but it was a good experience for me. I could look at a top team, the atmosphere, the stadium, everything. It was a really good experience and also makes me what I am.
"In that time I was 21 years old and I saw stars, everyone is a star at Arsenal, you know. I remember I was standing alone and Alexis Sanchez came to me.
"He didn't say anything to me but we passed each other. I also couldn't speak English, I didn't know any words, but just to pass with Alexis Sanchez was also a good experience for me and I always talk about that to my friends and my family."
Asano feels he has settled well in Mallorca, despite missing games through injury, but is out to improve on his return of two goals so far this term. He has kept up a tradition of Japanese players plying their trade in Palma, with Yoshito Okubo and Akihiro Ienaga among them, but the biggest name is current international star Take Kubo.
Kubo had a memorable season on loan from Real Madrid as a teenager in the 2019-20 season, standing out in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stave off relegation. And the 23-year-old - now at Real Sociedad - reached out to his international team-mate over the summer.
"I think a lot of Japanese people know about Mallorca, I don't know [if it's] for me!" Asano says with a smile. "When I came to Mallorca, Take gave me a message and he said if I had any questions I can come to him, [told me to] enjoy my life. Take is a good guy. But I haven't asked him anything yet, I'm good in Mallorca!"
There's one thing that made it very easy for Asano to settle at his new club. "It's biggest thing is the weather," he says without hesitation. "I feel really happy every day in Mallorca because of the weather, but I didn't know about that, the weather making the mentality.
"When I was in Germany, almost every day it was cloudy or raining. We tried to keep good mentality, it was normal for me, but when I came here it felt different.
"The people, also, everybody looks happy in Mallorca. That's why I also feel happy and have a good mentality to train and play games also. It connects to the next day, also, then the next day and the next day after that."
Despite settling in well, he still has the target of adding to the two goals he scored in March. The quality of opposition shouldn't be an obstacle, though - even when it's Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Asano has scored in two separate games for Japan against Germany - a winner in Qatar and an effort in a thumping 4-1 win in Wolfsburg which accelerated Hansi Flick's departure as manager. He was also on target in one of last season's most eye-catching Bundesliga results, helping Bochum beat Bayern Munich 3-2.
When asked if Madrid might be easier to get at after their Clasico defeat, though, he laughs. "Yeah but I think it doesn't matter for Real Madrid - we just have to play at 100 percent to win"
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