Takehiro Tomiyasu's 2022 has been a stop-start one so far.
Whilst Arsenal have played nine matches across all competitions since the turn of the year, the 23-year-old has only featured in two of them and he was an unused substitute in another.
The reason for Tomiyasu's absences are injury related. After aggravating a calf problem - first sustained over the festive period - during the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg defeat to Liverpool in January, he missed games against Burnley and Wolves either side of the Gunners' warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
There did seem to be light at the end of the tunnel for the win over Brentford last month as he returned to the matchday squad, only to suffer a setback in training and has subsequently missed victories against Wolves and Watford.
"Yes, it was the other calf," Mikel Arteta confirmed. "So he came back and he was completely fine, and in training he felt the other calf.
"This is an issue because he's a professional, who is giving absolutely everything to help us, and in the last few months he's not been fit."
In Tomiyasu's absence, Cedric Soares has been filling in admirably at right-back whilst the likes of Zak Swanson and Zach Awe have received first-team call-ups to provide defensive cover on the bench.
It remains to be seen when Arteta can call upon the Japan international again, but it would appear the defender is in good spirits as he works hard on his recovery.
Following the injury setback, Tomiyasu had been keeping a rather low profile - especially on social media.
But that changed following Arsenal's 3-2 win over the Hornets on Sunday afternoon with Martin Odegaard, in particular, impressing with a goal to break the deadlock after five minutes and creating numerous chances for his teammates.
Although, Tomiyasu didn't break his silence to discuss a possible return date or deliver an injury update, but rather to deliver his verdict on the Norway international's performance.
As seen above, without actually saying a word, the defender replied to Odegaard's Instagram post with three magic wand emojis.
This would indicate that Tomiyasu was calling his teammate a magician after, as per Squawka, the playmaker created more chances than any other Arsenal player against the Hornets with four.
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The key to Odegaard's performances in recent weeks is down to him feeling more settled than ever after making the permanent move from Real Madrid last summer.
"Yes, definitely," he told PA news agency via BT Sport. "I feel like I’m home now. I have had time to settle down – for the last five years I’ve been all over the place with loans here and there.
"So I feel like I’ve finally got that stability and the calmness I needed. So I’m really happy, yes."
