A busy pre-season schedule is underway for Arsenal and there's plenty of work for Mikel Arteta and Edu to get done on and off the pitch to ensure the side make a flying start to the 2022/23 campaign.
Finishing fifth - thus securing Europa League qualification last season - was certainly an improvement on back-to-back eighth-placed finishes in the Premier League. But with the Gunners making aggressive moves in the summer transfer window already, pressure will be on Arteta to deliver another top-four challenge and success in a cup competition.
For this to happen, a strong pre-season will be key. 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 before travelling out to America for their second international tour on July 13, where they will face Everton and Chelsea.
READ MORE: Arsenal can sanction three goalkeeper transfers this summer after confirming Matt Turner deal
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.
Looking back on last summer's preparations and everything that could have gone wrong seemed to go wrong for Arsenal. The Euros didn't help, four of their six signings didn't experience a full pre-season and it culminated with an opening day defeat against Brentford. Simply put, lightning can't strike twice.
So with that in mind, what needs to happen at Arsenal during pre-season for them to be ready for the 2022/23 Premier League season opener against Crystal Palace? Well, below football.london takes a look at what should be on the club's to-do list from now up until August 5.
Three more signings
As mentioned above, Arsenal have been busy already this summer with deals for Matt Turner, Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos completed and they are close to bolstering their attacking options with the signing of Gabriel Jesus after reaching an agreement with Manchester City for a £45m transfer.
But the Brazilian won't be the last addition at the Emirates Stadium this summer as it's been widely reported the club have scheduled talks with Leeds United for Raphinha and remain keen on striking a deal with Ajax for the signing of versatile defender Lisandro Martinez.
Ideally, Arsenal will wrap up all three deals before the trip to Germany, if not for the America tour, so that Arteta can integrate his summer signings and also create a carnival-like atmosphere for that final pre-season fixture against Sevilla where the new additions would be on show.
Although, based on previous transfer windows, it's almost certain that at least one deal will go right down to the wire. If the Gunners are to get some business done towards or on deadline day, then it should be a midfield signing amid links to Youri Tielemans, Fabian Ruiz and Seko Fofana.
Discover best line-up
Arteta will be in a dream position if before the trip to Selhurst Park he has his main transfer targets signed up as that would make it easier for him to discover what is likely to be his strongest line-up when every member of his first-team squad is fit and available for selection.
If Raphinha does sign before the start of the season, the friendlies offer a chance to see how he and Bukayo Saka can operate in the same team, whilst Gabriel Jesus would benefit from establishing a connection with his new teammates and Martinez would need to develop an understanding with the rest of the defensive unit.
Furthermore, with William Saliba returning after an impressive loan spell with Marseille last term, strong displays in pre-season could give Arteta somewhat of a selection headache as his preferred central defensive pairing of Benjamin White and Gabriel Magalhaes could be under threat by the Frenchman.
Additionally, with Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney fit again after missing the end of last season with injury, the pair can use pre-season to build up their fitness and ensure they are ready to reclaim their positions in Arteta's group of players he can rely upon next term.
Selling players
Raising funds by letting the players deemed surplus to requirements plans leave will be just as important as recruiting new signings for Arsenal this summer.
"We are going to have certain resources," Arteta said. "Not unlimited resources, certain resources. With those resources, we have to do what we have to do in the best possible way. We don’t know what the rest are going to have in terms of resources, which I assume is going to be challenging because now it’s not a top-three, or top-four league, there’s a top eight, or 10 teams that are involved. That’s why we have to find a way to do again what we did last summer."
This sounds like the Gunners are going to have to get creative in order to improve their resources if Arteta is talking about spending power and one way to do this is by cashing on those that can bring in some decent money.
Admittedly, this has not been a strong point for Edu since returning to the club in the summer of 2019, but he has the ideal opportunity to turn things around as in a dream scenario, the Brazilian could possibly secure a £70.4m cash injection by selling six first-team players in Nicolas Pepe, Lucas Torreira, Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Bernd Leno and Pablo Mari.
In addition, with the way the squad is shaping up and taking the transfer rumours into consideration, perhaps Rob Holding and Reiss Nelson will opt for a new challenge as first-team football next season could prove difficult to come by if Arsenal land Martinez and Raphinha.
Name new Arsenal captain
Mikel Arteta has to reveal the next Arsenal captain following confirmation that Alexandre Lacazette won't be around next season after entrusting the Frenchman to skipper the side for the remainder of the 2021/22 season when he stripped the armband off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last December as a punishment for another disciplinary issue.
A leading candidate to take over from Lacazette is Kieran Tierney. However, the left-back's worrying injury record does raise concerns as to if he would be the ideal choice and that could work in Martin Odegaard's favour as he led the team for the final few games of last season.
Although, there are a few players within the first-team set-up ready to pose a challenge to the aforementioned duo including Gabriel Magalhaes, Benjamin White and Albert Sambi Lokonga who have been tipped for big things by Lacazette: "There are some future captains," he told Arsenal.com "Gabriel, big Gabi, has got presence, leadership at the back.
"I think when he’s going to be more fluent with English, it will help a lot. Ben White as well, he’s more quiet maybe, but by the way he plays he can be a good leader and maybe with edge can build up. Sambi Lokonga, but he’s already been a captain in the past so it’s not hard to say he can be a good captain. Kieran as well because I think he’s been a captain as well in the past for the national team a few times. You can see some future captains, or leaders."
First-team promotions
It sounds strange, but Arsenal's last proper pre-season was in the summer of 2019 as the world underwent a major change at the beginning of 2020 with football greatly affected ever since with no international tours taking place due to Covid-19 restrictions that were in place.
But with the world slowly opening back up again, the Gunners will be heading off to Germany as well as the United States this summer, thus affording some of the club's most promising players such as Charlie Patino, Omari Hutchinson and Salah-Eddine with a chance to experience their first-ever overseas tour with the senior squad.
All eyes will be on which youngsters Arteta calls up for the tours and Gabriel Martinelli can act as an inspiration for whoever does as he used the 2019 tour to America to earn an immediate promotion to the first-team squad following his arrival from Ituano and he's now an important player under Arteta.
READ NEXT:
Find out what’s going on at the Emirates Stadium with all the latest news
Full Arsenal Premier League fixture list for 2022/23
'Worst kept secret ever!' - Arsenal signing's brilliant Instagram message after £7.5m transfer
Inside Matt Turner's rise from nearly quitting football twice to his dream Arsenal transfer
Thomas Partey and the recalled Arsenal loanees returning for first day of pre-season training
