Arsenal are planning a pre-season tour in Europe this year, with Dublin among the venues under consideration by the club.
On Monday, rumours from Twitter users @DarrenArsenal1 and ‘Arsenal Fixture News’ suggested Arsenal aren’t planning another pre-season trip to the USA in 2026.
Instead, the Gunners are planning to hold fixtures in Europe, with Dublin under consideration.
Tom Canton of Football.London has since confirmed that Arsenal are looking into pre-season plans closer to home, considering matches in Europe including that possible game in Dublin.
Both Canton and Arsenal Fixture News have stressed that there’s nothing signed with regards to the Dublin game just yet. At this point it’s just an option under serious consideration, and the club may yet decide against it.
Canton also raises the possibility of another Emirates Stadium friendly or two, as has been common in recent years.
A big part of the reason for the more local pre-season this year is the World Cup, which won’t conclude until July 19th. That means there’s only a little over a month until the Premier League kicks off on August 22nd.
Arsenal will hope to be in competitive action even earlier than that, as they still have a good shot at qualifying for the Community Shield a week earlier.
Any Arsenal players involved in the World Cup until the latter stages won’t be available until a week before the Premier League start date. So a long-haul trip to another continent doesn’t seem as worthwhile, as it would likely only involve a small selection of players who didn’t feature at the World Cup.
Pre-season plans should be finalised over the coming months, with Arsenal yet to announce anything at this stage.