Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares were among the players to return to training with Arsenal on Tuesday.

Nuno Tavares finally made his return to training with Arsenal this week, after his loan spell with Marseille last season and subsequent participation in the u21 European Championship over the summer.

Tavares posted pictures of his comeback on his Instagram page, captioned with a heart emoji.

But it’s worth noting that Tavares doesn’t have a number on his shirt or his shorts in the pictures.

The defender wore 20 in the 2021/22 campaign, but he’s since lost that number to Jorginho, and it seems Arsenal haven’t assigned him another.

The club will surely hand Tavares a number if he’s still around come the beginning of the competitive campaign, but the fact they haven’t yet suggests he could be preparing to leave.

As well as Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga could also be seen in photos of Tuesday’s training session, suggesting he’s back in action after injury.

Ahead of Arsenal’s pre-season tour, Lokonga explained that he’d be missing from the squad due to a small muscular problem.

Once again, Lokonga’s long-term future at Arsenal is currently uncertain, and a transfer in the coming weeks appears to be a realistic possibility.

For now, the midfielder remains in training with Mikel Arteta’s squad.

In other news, Arsenal youngsters Charlie Patino and Tyreece John-Jules could be seen in the background of one of the training photos (shown above).

The two academy stars were both out on loan last season, and they haven’t been involved in pre-season with Arteta’s squad so far.

Patino has expressed a desire to leave permanently, whilst it’s not clear what John-Jules is planning for the coming campaign.