Arsenal are close to announcing their plans for the World Cup break, including a round-robin tournament with AC Milan, Lyon, and Liverpool.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports that after Arsenal’s final pre-World Cup match next weekend, the squad will initially be granted 10 days off. After that, any players not involved in their country’s World Cup squad will return to training.

Arsenal plan to travel to Dubai on December 4th for a warm-weather training camp and a mini-tournament.

The Gunners will play against Lyon on December 8th and AC Milan on December 13th. Liverpool are also likely to be involved, but they won’t play against Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp’s side are seemingly just set to face Lyon and Milan, like Mikel Arteta’s team.

Arsenal will then fly home on December 14th, and they may play a third friendly at the Emirates Stadium on December 17th, holding talks over facing a Spanish opponent.

The details of the Dubai trip are expected to be confirmed in the next week.

Adrian Clarke recently hinted at a “particularly exciting friendly” that we might see at the Emirates Stadium in December. So reading between the lines, it looks like one of Spain’s top teams might be on the way to London.

As for the trip to Dubai, the advantage of that camp is the proximity to the World Cup tournament in Qatar, meaning players will be able to easily join up with Arteta’s squad when their countries are eliminated.

Arsenal’s return to competitive club football will depend on Wednesday’s result against Brighton.

If the Gunners win, they’ll have a fourth-round tie in the week commencing December 19th. If they lose, they won’t play until December 26th against West Ham, when the Premier League returns.