The Athletic report that Arsenal’s first summer signing Matt Turner will play his final game for the New England Revolution on June 19th, before joining the Gunners for pre-season just five days later.
Turner is in a tricky situation as an MLS player moving to Europe.
The MLS works on a calendar-year basis, so it’s hard to fit a holiday in during the summer, but he obviously won’t get another break until May 2023.
The MLS kicked off in February, and Turner will go straight from the Revs’ season to Arsenal, then he’ll almost certainly travel with the USMNT to the World Cup this winter, followed by a return to Arsenal until May.
A year and a half of football, uninterrupted. There’s no perfect solution to the situation though, and Arsenal might just have to find ways to ensure Turner doesn’t burn out during the season.
Admittedly, Turner didn’t actually play any matches for the Revs until May.
But that was because he was working on his recovery from a foot injury from February to April. He wasn’t on holiday, and it looks like he won’t get one for another year.
New England Revolution confirmed in February that they’d agreed terms for Turner’s transfer to Arsenal pending a medical, adding that Turner is expected to join in June 2022.
The Athletic then reported that Turner is set to sign a three-year contract with Arsenal when the transfer market reopens this summer.
The Gunners have sealed an agreement with the MLS club, it’s just about the formalities now.
Football.London report that the Gunners don’t intend to confirm the transfer until Turner undergoes that medical this month.
But there’s no bad blood between the clubs, with Arsenal giving their blessing to New England Revolution for their announcement.