Arsenal will start their pre-season campaign training next Monday but as many as 11 senior players won’t be able to join from that day at London Colney.
In just under a week’s time, Arsenal will start training under boss Mikel Arteta. But a number of senior and academy graduates may not join that early as the rest will flock in. Arteta declared an unofficial date of June 27 to report his players back to him on the training ground. The squad will prepare for a few friendly matches before their Premier League season opener against Crystal Palace. Arteta will look to avoid the mistakes they made last time. It led to a horrendous start to their season in the recently concluded campaign.
Firstly, the club will travel to Germany to play a friendly against FC Nurnberg on 8th July at Max-Morlock Stadion. Next, they will return to London and then travel to the USA for their international tour of pre-season on July 13. There they will face Everton, Orlando City, and Chelsea in friendly matches. Furthermore, the Emirates Cup will also take place after 3 years of hiatus. Arsenal will face Sevilla in their final pre-season game before their trip to Selhurst Park.
Pre-season woes for Arsenal
But Arteta won’t get the services of several senior players. The most recent UEFA Nations League, international friendlies, plus World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers disrupted his plans of getting those players involved and warmed up for the build-up to their PL season. Those involved in the international break will receive an extended break so that they can have enough time to recover.
The first-team players likely to be present for the first day of pre-season training are those who weren’t called up for international duty such as Arthur Okonkwo, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Pablo Mari, Thomas Partey, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah. Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney might be available after recovering swiftly from the injury he sustained in April.
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