Mikel Arteta hopes Riccardo Calafiori will be ready to make his Arsenal debut on Sunday.
The £42million signing was left out of the Gunners squad for their 4-1 friendly win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Calafiori is still getting up to speed after his switch from Bologna but the defender could feature for the first time when Arsenal host Lyon in the Emirates Cup this weekend.
“With regards to Riccardo, so much has happened to him in one week,” said Arteta.
“He has come into a new environment, a completely different methodology, different training and we are managing him.
“We want to do it slowly, to get him in the best possible way. Hopefully on Sunday he will be available to play some minutes.”
While there was Calafiori on Tuesday, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice did get their first minutes of pre-season. The pair had an extended break after helping England reach the Euro 2024 Final but both came off the bench in the second half.
Arsenal kick-off the new Premier League season campaign against Wolves next Saturday and Arteta is confident they will be raring to go.
“The season starts in nine or 10 days so they have to be ready,” he said.
“These are the demands they have right now. We really look after them when they are with us, when we have the ability to give them days off we do.
“We gave them days off before the start of the Euros and we have given them the rest that they needed.
“The best thing to do is to look in their faces and there is that spark in their eyes, to come back and say: ‘I don’t want to miss it because I know how hard it is going to be.’ That is the best sign, that the players want it.”
