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After both the European Championships and Copa América concluded earlier in the month, Arsenal are joined by many Premier League teams as they begin preparations ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
After narrowly missing out on their first Premier League title in 20 years last season, Mikel Arteta and his 26-man squad have travelled to Los Angeles ahead of their America pre-season tour.
Playing against three league counterparts in Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool, the squad contains 12 youth players, who are joined by first-team players who didn’t partake in a summer tournament, or saw an early exit.
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The likes of Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, who all went home in the quarter-finals of their respective international tournaments, will join the squad from July 25th.
However, players who reached the EURO2024 semi-finals or finals, namely Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, David Raya and William Saliba, will not return ahead of the new season until their teammates conclude their duties in America.
The North London club were handed a tough start to Mikel Arteta’s fifth full season at the reigns, as they line-up against Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in their first five fixtures.
Many Arsenal players progressed far in EURO2024 [Image Credits: Getty Images]With this, everyone surrounding the club will be eager to reintegrate star players, such as Rice, Saka and Saliba as quickly as possible. Despite this, after receiving very little rest within the last year, there were doubts that the Gunners’ superstars may not be able to be welcomed back to North London as soon as they would like.
However, Arteta has given a positive prediction on how soon the EURO2024 semi-finalists and finalists will be donning red and white once again.
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When asked ahead of the club’s first pre-season fixture, against Bournemouth, if the players will miss the start of the campaign, the Spaniard began:
“I do not think so. Let’s see what condition they come back in. All of the messages I have got from them, they are really excited to come back and have a great season again. I do not expect anything else.”
The boss then added: “When your mind is telling you to come back, then I think you need to follow your mind. They need some rest, they had a week as well before they started the Euros. We will manage them, but if they are willing that means that they want to, so let’s do it.”
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