Arsenal returned to pre-season training this week, but which players are available to Mikel Arteta ahead of the Gunners’ first friendly matches?
Arsenal made their official return to pre-season training at London Colney on Monday, but not all of Mikel Arteta’s squad are available, given many of them have been away over the summer for the World Cup.
From footage and images of Arsenal’s training sessions so far, it seems 13 senior players have been involved, as well as youth duo Marli Salmon and Max Dowman.
Arsenal play their first behind-closed-doors friendly this weekend, followed by their first public friendly against Girona next Saturday, so the players listed below are the most likely to be involved in those opening pre-season games.
Arsenal pre-season training squad (Week 1)
- Goalkeepers: Tommy Setford, Illan Meslier, Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Defenders: Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, Marli Salmon
- Midfielders: Fabio Vieira, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christian Norgaard, Max Dowman
- Forwards: Reiss Nelson, Gabriel Jesus
It’s worth mentioning that whilst Timber has been at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground this week and is listed above, he’s still seemingly rehabbing after his latest injury setback. It’s unlikely he’ll be involved in the Gunners’ early pre-season fixtures.
Though he hasn’t been pictured in training just yet, new signing Christos Tzolis should also be available immediately, as he’d already started pre-season training with Club Brugge prior to his transfer.
Arsenal Fixtures News reports that Arsenal will fly out to Spain for a pre-season training camp outside Girona on Sunday, July 26th. We should find out later this weekend whether any of the early World Cup returners are involved in that trip.
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