Declan Rice has told Mikel Arteta he’ll be ready to play from his first day back with Arsenal for pre-season, with the England international set for a late return.
Arsenal’s England, Spain, and France internationals are all set for a late return to pre-season, having featured at the 2026 World Cup right up until the final day.
The England players include Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, and Eberechi Eze, and they played their final game at the tournament two weeks ago on July 18th.
As a result, they’ll all get at least one more week off, to complete their three-week minimum holiday.
Yet Rice has apparently told Mikel Arteta that as soon as he’s back with the camp, he’ll be ready to play matches again.
“When I speak to Declan, he is already talking, ‘okay, if I come this day, then I can play (then)’, and the rest the same,” Arteta told Arsenal.com.
“We have three different pre-seasons with different groups. But the most important thing is not the programme, it is the attitude behind the programme.”
Hypothetically, that could mean Rice is available for Arsenal’s squad against Borussia Dortmund in the Emirates Cup match on August 9th. That’s the same day his holiday should end.
You usually wouldn’t expect a player to return to the pitch on the same day they return to pre-season, but that’s evidently what Rice is suggesting he could do.
Arsenal would probably prefer to get the player ready for the games the following week, with a friendly against Como on the Wednesday and the Community Shield against Manchester City on the Sunday.
But if he can get a few minutes against Dortmund, that would presumably put him in good shape to feature in those matches.
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