Arsenal star Takehiro Tomiyasu has issued a message to the club's fans as he continues his recovery from injury.

Tomiyasu has spent the majority of the season on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury that he first suffered back in July during pre-season training.

The Japan international eventually recovered to be able to make a six-minute cameo against Southampton from the bench in October in the Premier League, but has not featured for the Gunners since the 3-1 win at the Emirates Stadium. Mikel Arteta has not put a timeframe on when Arsenal will expect to have the versatile defender back in their squad.

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On New Year's Eve, Tomiyasu joined several Premier League stars in sending a message to fans to wish them well for the new year ahead. The Arsenal defender went on to offer a hint about his recovery from injury.

"Happy New Year! There's still more to come," wrote Tomiyasu on Instagram.

Arteta has been forced to deal with several injury concerns this season, with Tomiyasu one player who has spent a lot of time on the sidelines. Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Raheem Sterling are currently unavailable for Arsenal for their Premier League clash against Brentford on New Year's Day.

It was back in November that Arteta offered a detailed update on Tomiyasu's recovery from injury. The Arsenal boss insisted that patience would be needed ahead of the defender's return.

"He’s [Tomiyasu] going to be away now for a few weeks for him to continue with his training and to change his environment a little bit because it’s been really tough for him as you can imagine," Arteta told reporters on November 22.

"He’s one of the guys where the only thing he wants to do is to work 24 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he’s not fit, so it’s a real shame.

"We’re going to give him the best opportunity to try and unlock something to help him to have him back as quickly as possible, but I think we need to be patient."