Mikel Arteta will have welcomed back some of his senior stars on Monday for the first day of Arsenal pre-season training. Following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign, some of the Gunners squad headed out onto international duty and will therefore return later in the month, but over 10 senior stars are expected to be back at London Colney.
A superb season for Arsenal ended on June 28 with a dominant 5-0 win against Wolves, but there is sure to have been a tinge of disappointment the Premier League title was not won. Nonetheless, Edu and Arteta certainly aren't dwelling on that missed opportunity with a £210million triple swoop in the works this summer.
Kai Havertz's transfer from Chelsea has already been confirmed and Arsenal are aiming to finalise moves for Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice in the coming days. While the latter duo are currently still contracted to Ajax and West Ham respectively, some Arsenal players will be starting their pre-season training with the club ahead of their first fixture against FC Nurnberg on July 13 in Germany.
Ben White could see his position in the starting XI up for grabs with the imminent arrival of Timber, but he will have a few days to stake his claim to Arteta. Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Martinelli, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny all ended the season with injuries but the foursome have been given the all clear to resume training with Elneny returning to work in the gym at London Coleny over the weekend.
Elsewhere Rob Holding, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard were not called up to their national teams and have therefore had the month of June off. There are however, question marks over William Saliba and Fabio Vieira with the latter pulling out of the Portugal squad for the under-21 European championships.
However, in the statement posted by Arsenal on June 19 confirming his decision, it was revealed he would be ready to return in two weeks. As for Saliba, a video emerged of him in his home city of Bondy taking part in a light training session which hints a pre-season return is on the cards.
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Some first-team squad members however, will not be reporting for duty at the start of the week due to their international commitments. Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka were both included in England's qualifying squad while Emile Smith Rowe is currently representing the Three Lions at under-21 Euros with Karl Hein also playing for Estonia at the tournament.
Jakub Kiwior, Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka and Kieran Tierney all featured for their countries in European championship qualifying fixtures, while Kai Havertz played 214 minutes across three friendlies for Germany. Thomas Partey recently played in AFCON qualifier for Ghana and Jorginho was on the losing Italy team of the UEFA Nations League final against Spain.
Matt Turner and Folarin Balogun were also in a Nations League final as the USMNT beat Canada 2-0 in the CONCACAF version, with Balogun scoring the second goal. Turner is now continuing to represent his country as they compete in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with two group stage wins and one draw to their name so far.
A small returning squad will likely see some younger talent given the opportunity to impress Arteta at the senior level. Only Reuell Walters was taken on the last overseas tour but more names such as Ethan Nwaneri, fresh off signing a scholarship deal, could be given the chance ahead of the new season.
