Stan Kroenke has confirmed that the Arsenal team will be heading to Southern California for pre-season training.

The majority shareholder says the Gunners will be traveling to the USA in the summer ahead of their pre-season matches against the MLS Allstars and Chiva de Guadalajara.

The American business tycoon revealed that we will be training there for the first time in the hope of expanding our brand to larger, global market.

“I mean the Rams are, they’re noteworthy over there because of Arsenal and all that plays,” he said.

“Arsenal will come back and they’re playing and training in Southern California this summer for the first time.

“So that’s all good. That will raise the profile of the Rams and Arsenal in North America.”

There are good and bad points to the news. Firstly, in terms of the team’s welfare, training in a warm, sunny climate has its benefits. Mentally, the Vitamin D can raise their mood and prepare them for the coming season. Physically, training in warmer conditions can be better for muscles and, considering we seem to suffer from muscular injuries ahead of all others, this could help keep us injury-free for longer.

However, Kroenke doesn’t want to do this for the wellbeing of our players or club. He’s using this as another way to squeeze money out of us – something Gooners are very sensitive about at the moment.

Saying this, I do think it’s a great move and the Californian sunshine should do us good.