Arsenal Pre-Season: Key Players Return and Big Decisions Ahead
Arsenal’s summer starts to feel real next week. The sun, the running, the double sessions are already in full swing at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, but Mikel Arteta is about to get what every manager really wants in July: his main men back.
The squad reconvened officially on Monday after a quieter, more secluded camp in Marbella, where Arteta and his staff worked with a stripped-back group — those spared World Cup duty. It has been a useful laboratory. A chance to look closely at the returning loanees, the kids, the fringe players who know this is their window to change the manager’s mind.
Ethan Nwaneri, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira are among those trying to make noise early. Cristhian Mosquera is another, back in the building and eyeing the most daunting of opportunities: stepping into the space left by the injured William Saliba over the coming months. For a young defender, that is both a pathway and a spotlight.
Illan Meslier has wasted no time bedding in after his summer move, joining the main group from day one. Around him, the next wave is already being nudged into senior football. Marli Salmon and Max Dowman have been pulled into first-team training, a sign that Arteta wants the academy’s best to feel the tempo and the demands now, not later.
Riccardo Calafiori has been involved, as have Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Jesus. Ben White, whose season ended early with a knee problem, is back too — and that is no small boost. His rehabilitation has gone smoothly enough for him to train in Marbella and then again at London Colney this week. A full pre-season for White, after that scare, changes the complexion of Arsenal’s right side.
Jurrien Timber is edging his way back as well. The defender has rejoined the group but is still short of a complete return after minor groin surgery. Arsenal will not rush a player who has already lost so much time to injury.
World Cup contingent drip-feeds back
The first formal pre-season fixture comes on August 1 against Girona, and by then Arteta expects the World Cup contingent to start filtering through the door.
Players are entitled to a minimum of three weeks off after international duty. Given the relentless schedule of last season, Arsenal are also weighing up who might need more than the bare minimum.
Kai Havertz is due back in the coming days after Germany’s early exit at the round-of-32 stage. He has been keeping sharp at Bayer Leverkusen’s training ground this week, using familiar surroundings to tune up before rejoining Arteta’s group.
Piero Hincapie and Viktor Gyokeres have now completed their three-week breaks and are pencilled in for returns next week. The timing matters: those sessions will shape who is ready to travel and who is still playing catch-up when Arsenal head to Spain.
Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli, who went deeper into the World Cup with Brazil, are also expected back at the start of next week. Both are likely to be on the plane for that Spanish leg of pre-season, giving Arteta the core of his attacking unit to work with.
One man who will have to wait is Martin Odegaard. The captain’s Norway reached the quarter-finals, losing to England on July 11, which pushes his return date into the week beginning August 3. By then, Arsenal will be heading to Dublin to face Real Betis, before home dates against Borussia Dortmund and Como round off a busy schedule.
Racing the clock before Manchester City and Coventry
Eight Arsenal players went all the way to the final weekend of the World Cup. Their reward is a very limited pre-season and a race against time.
August 10 is the earliest they can report back, just six days before the Community Shield against Manchester City. That leaves an 11-day runway to build fitness before the Premier League opener, when Coventry visit the Emirates on August 21.
Some are better placed than others. David Raya and Martin Zubimendi barely kicked a ball this summer and should be ready to hit stride quickly. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino had more minutes but still avoided a punishing workload.
Rice, Saka and the big calls
Arsenal’s biggest decisions of the summer are not about tactics boards or transfer fees. They are about bodies. Specifically, the bodies of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
Rice has been managing neural pain in his hamstring for more than six months. He also battled sickness during the World Cup, a draining combination for a player who rarely comes off the pitch. Saka spent much of the tournament held back by Thomas Tuchel, who made clear the winger was still playing through an Achilles problem.
Both will be assessed when they walk back through the doors at London Colney. The temptation will be to get them moving, to rebuild the fluency that drives this Arsenal side. The smarter play may be to step back.
More rest now, or more risk later? For a club with ambitions on all fronts, that is the question that will define the early weeks of their season.
