Arsenal's senior players are to begin reporting back for pre-season training from Monday, with Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney likely to be amongst the first batch.
The pair missed the final two months of the 2021/22 campaign with calf and knee injuries, respectively. This left many supporters to wonder what could have been in the top-four race had one - let alone both - managed to stay fit, considering they had been automatic starters under Mikel Arteta when available for selection.
With that said, now that the dust has settled on last season, it's time to look forward, and optimism will almost certainly be renewed amongst the fanbase when the first images of the Arsenal senior players back in training are released early next week.
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The chances of being present are quite good considering a recent update from the Scotland international himself, where he revealed he was on course to return to training at the end of June following knee surgery that curtailed his 2021/22 campaign earlier than he would have liked.
"It's tough working full days in the gym on your own, but you've got to keep on pushing yourself. There's no point feeling sorry for yourself. I don't look for or expect sympathy from anyone," he said. "At the end of the day, I'm lucky to be a footballer — and I never take anything for granted.
"I'm a nightmare for the physios. I'm always on at them to get me back quicker. And I'm a terrible spectator. Not being able to do anything to help the team. I hate it. My target is to be back for the end of June and the start of pre-season at Arsenal. I'm on course for that. My rehab's going well."
In terms of fitness, Partey should be a lot further down the line than Tierney, having returned to full training towards the end of last season, but understandably, he wasn't risked for the final game against Everton and the fact he didn't have any international commitments with Ghana points towards him having a full pre-season schedule.
A further boost Arteta could receive ahead of Monday is in the form of Benjamin White. The defender missed England's UEFA Nations League fixtures against Hungary, Germany and Italy after pulling out of Gareth Southgate's squad altogether but should be ready for the start of pre-season provided he has recovered from injury.
Fellow centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes, right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu and winger Nicolas Pepe could also be in the same boat as White, considering they were called up by Brazil, Japan and Ivory Coast, respectively, earlier in the month but also didn't feature.
Other first-team players likely to be present at London Colney for the start of pre-season training include Bernd Leno, Eddie Nketiah, Cedric Soares, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga and returning loanees such as Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Alex Runarsson and Reiss Nelson.
Of course, there will be a lack of senior members present at London Colney on June 27 as those involved on international duty such as William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Granit Xhaka have been given extra time off to recuperate, so they won't be reporting for duty for at least another week.
Arsenal will travel out to Germany for a pre-season training camp as their first trip abroad with a friendly against FC Nurnberg on July 8 at the Max-Morlock Stadion pencilled in. They then return to London before travelling out to America for their second international tour of pre-season on July 13, where they will face Everton and Chelsea.
Currently, the Emirates Cup clash against La Liga outfit Sevilla on July 30 is the final warm-up game pencilled in before the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace, but football.london understands the club are hoping to arrange a behind-closed-doors friendly in between those games.
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