The first week of pre-season training for Arsenal is almost complete as the players gear up for a friendly against FC Nurnberg.
Reporting back to the club's London Colney training base on Monday morning, the hard work began immediately as the majority of Mikel Arteta's first-team squad were involved including a fit-again Thomas Partey who was sidelined for the final few weeks of last season with a thigh injury.
In addition, members from the 2021/22 campaign loan army such as Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Reiss Nelson, Folarin Balogun and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have returned and they have been put through their paces by Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff throughout the week.
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With that said, media footage has been released on Arsenal.com to provide a clue as to what shape the players are in and below are four things we spotted from the video and what it tells us about the squad's preparations for the new season which gets away in just over a month's time.
Ainsley's message
As mentioned above, Maitland-Niles has reported for pre-season training with Arsenal after missing out on a permanent transfer to AS Roma with whom he spent the second half of last season on loan - winning the inaugural Europa Conference League under Jose Mourinho in the process.
How long the 24-year-old is back for remains to be seen as he's been linked with a move to Premier League new boys Nottingham Forest but his wage demands could prevent him from becoming the second midfielder to leave the club permanently this summer after Matteo Guendouzi.
Not that speculation regarding his future appeared to have any impact on Maitland-Niles' mood as he returned to familiar surroundings at the beginning of the week. In fact, he looked delighted to be back and with a smile on his face uttered a simple 10-word message: "It's been a while, first day back, let's get it!"
Importance of the first day
Arsenal head physiotherapist Jordan Reece gave an explanation about the importance of the first day back for the players.
"The first day back is a vital screening day for us," he said. "The players have been away for five, six weeks so it's really important that we capture how they've been over that period of time. If there have been any issues at the back end of last season. We take a baseline physical measurement of where the players are at.
"In terms of strength test, power test, mobility, flexibility, in terms of overall general conditioning as well. Really busy day, the lads are flat out from eight o'clock, it's pretty full-on for them, they are sort of tired by the end of it. But it's vitally important days that we capture these players prior to them going into any training and they get a marker of where they are at."
Partey encouragement
Participating in one of many physical tests was Partey and there was an encouraging verdict on the Arsenal midfielder from one of the coaches who could be heard saying: "Looking good Thomas, looking good". This will be music to the ears of supporters hoping the Ghana international can steer clear of injury next season.
And in the very next clip, Partey joked with the camera operator: "When I'm getting tired, cut!"
Pepe finds the net
There wasn't too much in terms of the Arsenal players getting out onto the training pitch and familiarising themselves with a football again as footage showed a light warm-up, a simple passing drill and Nicolas Pepe finding the back of the net with a routine finish from close range.
The winger, who has also been linked with a move away this summer, looked very happy with himself after scoring, sharing a message with a teammate off camera.
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