Ryo Miyaichi

Arsenal

During his trial at Arsenal in the summer of 2010, Miyaichi impressed the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, signing a professional contract on 31 January 2011. Wenger said: "We’re delighted that Ryō Miyaichi has joined us. He trialed with us in the summer and has raw ability which has attracted many clubs around the world".

Loan to Feyenoord

Just after he signed for Arsenal, it was announced that he was set to join Feyenoord on loan. On 5 February, in his first appearance for Feyenoord, he played the full 90 minutes against Vitesse Arnhem in a 1–1 draw, and was named man of the match. Miyaichi then played against Heracles Almelo where he scored the opening goal and created the second in a 2–1 league win for Feyenoord. On 17 April 2011, Miyaichi scored two goals and contributed two assists in Feyenoord's 6–1 victory over Willem II, leading a revival after Feyenoord had conceded an early goal. The Dutch media gave him the nickname "Ryodinho" after comparisons to Ronaldinho. He has also been branded the Japanese Messi.

2011–12 season

As he returned to Arsenal after his loan spell at Feyenoord, Miyaichi joined up with the first team for pre-season training. He was included in the 23-man squad to tour Asia in the pre-season after impressing in training. Miyaichi made his pre-season debut against Malaysia All-Stars XI, he started the match before being substituted for Robin van Persie in the 66th minute. On 9 August 2011, Miyaichi was granted…

A technically gifted player, Miyaichi plays as a winger and has been noted for his blistering pace and ability to run and dribble past defenders. Japan's former manager Alberto Zaccheroni has said that "Miyaichi's strengths are on the flanks and creating space going forward." Arsène Wenger has stated that "Ryō has natural technical ability. He has good balance and phenomenal pace, and his passing and crossing is consistently of a high quality. He is a very exciting player." Former Feyenoord director, Eric Gudde praised Miyaichi saying that "He is a player with good pace, dribbling and a lot of tricks to get behind the opponent. He has some excellent qualities and for his age is a very complete player."

Miyaichi has represented Japan from under-15 to under-19 level. He took part in the 2009 U-17 World Cup as a member of Japan U-17 national team. He played 2 matches at the tournament. Miyaichi received his first call up to the senior team for the 2014 World Cup qualification against Uzbekistan in February 2012, though he didn't feature in the game. Miyaichi made his debut on 23 May 2012 in a friendly against Azerbaijan where he came on as a 60th-minute substitute in a game that ended 2–0 to Japan. He made his second appearance against Brazil to again play as a substitute in a 4–0 Japan loss. After almost decade since his last international cap, Miyaichi was called up to the Japan national team on 14 July 2022 ahead of the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship finals hosted in Japan. On 19 July, Miyaichi came on as a substitute in the 64th minute, helping secure Japan's 6-0 victory over Hong Kong. On 24 July, Miyaichi made his first start for Japan in a 0-0 draw against rivals China, before being substituted in the 75th minute. On 27 July, Miyaichi came on as a substitute in the 59th minute in the final match against South Korea but was forced off in the 78th minute due to injury. Japan won the match 3-0 and clinched the championship with two wins and one draw.

Miyaichi was born into a sporting family. His brother, Tsuyoshi, was also a football player; and his father, Tatsuya Nomoura, was a basketball player who played for and later managed the Toyota Motors basketball club. Miyaichi started playing football in his elementary school years at Sylphid F.C. in Nagoya. He entered Chukyo University Chukyo High School and played for the school football club. In the 2010 season, the team advanced to the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament but were defeated in the first round in a match televised across Japan.