Mikel Arteta singled out the efforts of Arsenal's newest recruit Oleksandr Zinchenko and central defender William Saliba after the Gunners made light work of Chelsea - beating their London rivals 4-0 in Orlando.
Arteta's men put on quite the display for their final fixture the other side of the pond, with two goals either side of the interval highlighting a gulf in quality between the two teams on the night. So far, the Gunners have been near faultless throughout their entire pre-season campaign with four wins from four.
Arsenal played like a team high on confidence against the Blues, with summer signing Gabriel Jesus opening the scoring after a delicate chip over the head of the onrushing Edouard Mendy. Martin Odegaard doubled the Gunners' advantage shortly after following a precise through ball from Gabriel Martinelli.
The other side of half time saw goals from Bukayo Saka, before Albert Sambi Lokonga notched a header late on to put the result beyond any doubt. Despite the impressive displays from all of the goal-scorers, it was Zinchenko and Saliba that caught Arteta's eye.
Zinchenko enjoyed a positive debut, while Saliba was one of just two Arsenal players to remain on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.
Discussing Saliba, Arteta waxed lyrical over the seamless way the defender has slotted in to proceedings with the Gunners after a season on loan with Marseille. "I am really pleased to see the way he is playing, the way he has adapted to the team, the maturity that he’s shown at 21-years-old, carry on doing it," the Arsenal boss explained.
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"We will keep developing him, he has a huge potential, he is already a top player and we have to make him even better." Pressed on whether he thinks Saliba is at long last ready for Premier League action, Arteta added: "He looked ready to me today."
The Arsenal manager also spoke highly of Zinchenko, who was featuring for the first time just two days after his move from Manchester City was confirmed. "He was desperate to play and I knew that," admitted Arteta. "It was a maximum 45 minutes but you could see straight away he was comfortable.
"He understands everything that I want, he understands the process and I thought he had a really good game."
Both players are expected to play a big part in the coming season for Arsenal as Arteta looks to try and put the heartache of last term's Champions League failure behind them to mount a serious charge for a top-four finish.
